It is a new week and as we inch towards the return of college football down here in the Southeastern Conference, there is plenty going on around the sports world to report on.
Leading off, tonight the SEC will announce its official 2020 football schedule tonight at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. The league appears to be moving forward strong towards fall competition and releasing the schedule now is sure to please a plethora of fans.
Not everyone will be playing if/when the season starts, however, as Ole Miss senior center Eli Johnson announced he is opting out of the 2020 college football season, whose father was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator after being infected with the novel coronavirus back in March.
Adam Jardy at The Columbus Dispatch asks if a “bubble” plan could work for college basketball and takes a look at the variables involved. Our own Tyler Nettuno discussed whether there would even be a season in his column last month, and not much has changed since.
There is sad news in the Gator Nation, as former wide receiver and current Florida International assistant coach Aubrey Hill has passed away after a long bout with cancer. He was 48 years old.
Heartbroken. pic.twitter.com/Berg6BBkou
— FIU Football (@FIUFootball) August 16, 2020
Around the Swamp
- Should Penn State fans cheer for Florida Gators football this season?: Mike Griffith, a Georgia writer and Heisman voter, put out his list of teams Big Ten fans should adopt, and notably, he thinks fans of the Penn State Nittany Lions should be cheering for the Gators this fall.
- NCAA chief medical officer gives negative outlook on fall college football: In an appearance on CNN early Sunday morning, NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline gave a grim summary of the challenges facing college sports.
- The Athletic on Gators men’s basketball struggles: ‘It is massively frustrating’: Brennan may not be a Gators fan, but his words should resonate with many members of the Gator Nation.
- Stadium’s map shows why SEC is insistent on playing football this fall: On Thursday, the college football insider released his map that illustrates where FBS football will be played and where it will not, as well as the middle grounds of the division.
- Florida Gators TE Kyle Pitts selected in first-round of Todd McShay’s latest mock draft: Tight end Kyle Pitts was the only Florida Gator to appear in this mock first-round, going off the board to the Buffalo Bills, who recently signed head coach Sean McDermott to a contract extension, at No. 23.
- How the college football season could have been salvaged: Because for all the reasons why COVID-19 makes a season an unlikely possibility, college football players could still have suited up this fall.
- In-state recruiting key for Florida football’s growing momentum: The Gators have landed top-10 recruiting classes in 2019 and 2020, but those classes weren’t elite in terms of the rest of the SEC, falling fifth and sixth, respectively.
- SEC coaches express frustration over lack of transparency, per sources: All is not well in the land of the Southeastern Conference as the league continues to sort out how it will handle playing its football schedule amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic.
It’s great to be a Florida Gator!
Tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/e3217BRYdd
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) August 16, 2020
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