Tag: Pac 12

Mid-American Conference Becomes Last FBS Conference to Resume Football

Every Football Bowl Subdivision conference will see action in 2020.

Every Football Bowl Subdivision conference will see action in 2020. On Friday, the Mid-American Conference’s 12 presidents voted unanimously to have football this season. Only six games will be played by each team in conference-only schedules. A championship game is set for Dec. 18 or 19.

The conference initially canceled its season, but its stance has changed just like every other conference that previously announced a season cancelation. This announcement came a day after the Pac-12 and Mountain West both announced that they would have football after all in 2020. The Big Ten also recently announced it will have a season. Also like with every other conference, daily testing will be implemented.

Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher released the following statement:

“I am pleased to inform our student-athletes, coaches, and fans, that the Mid-American Conference will resume the fall football season, Our decisions, in August and again today, have been guided by an overriding concern for the well-being of the student-athletes, institutions, and the community at large. Our medical advisory group, presidents, directors of athletics, and others, have worked hard to develop a plan that provides the opportunity for student athletes to compete. We will be diligent in monitoring the dynamic health environment across the Conference footprint and the country.”

Pac-12, Mountain West Will Have Football in 2020

It appears the demand for college football in 2020 has become too great.

It appears the demand for college football in 2020 has become too great. On Thursday, the Pac-12 announced it will play a seven-game conference schedule beginning Nov. 6. Soon after, the Mountain West announced a eight-game season that will begin the weekend of Oct. 24. That leaves the Mid-American Conference as the only Football Bowl Subdivision conference without a season, but a vote on what could be a six-game season is expected Friday.

All of that talk about keeping college football players safe during the COVID-19 pandemic officially was for naught. The conferences can discussing daily testing all they want, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re going back on their word and have decided to chase the dollars after all. Pressure from players, parents and others didn’t help, but the conferences couldn’t or wouldn’t stand their ground. Any compassion and goodwill they’ve gained over the past couple of months is gone, and if you haven’t figured it out by now, they never had souls.

Pac-12 announces resumption of fall football season

The gang’s all back together. The Pac-12 has joined the other Power Five conferences and has reinstated the fall football season for 2020.

The boat is moving offshore and it appears now that all the Power Five conferences want on board. When the Big Ten and Pac-12 went lock-step and postponed the fall football season because of concerns about safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it was assumed the other three big ticketed conference would follow suit.

Instead, the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 decided to move forward and left those two conferences behind. But not for long.

The Big Ten faced mounting pressure from all angles and then got comfortable with advances in testing and monitoring for myocarditis and reversed course. It’ll be kicking off on October 23 and 24.

And now, after some reconsidering — and probably not wanting to be the only Power Five conference left out — the Pac-12  to also put fall football back on the field for fall.

According to a release from the conference, it will begin a fall season consisting of seven games beginning on November 6. The conference’s CEO group also announced the reinstatement of winter sports, including basketball on November 25, which falls in line with the NCAA’s agreed upon beginning date.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports remains our guiding light and number one priority,” said Pac-12 CEO Group Chair and University of Oregon President Michael Schill in a statement.  “Our CEO Group has taken a measured and thoughtful approach to today’s decision, including extensive consultation with stakeholders on the evolving information and data related to health and safety.”
“From the beginning of this crisis, our focus has been on following the science, data and counsel of our public health and infectious disease experts,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott.  “Our agreement with Quidel to provide daily rapid-results testing has been a game-changer in enabling us to move forward with confidence that we can create a safe environment for our student-athletes while giving them the opportunity to pursue their dreams. At the same time, we will continue to monitor health conditions and data and be ready to adjust as required in the name of the health of all.”
There haven’t been any schedules released yet, but the timing of the start does potentially allow the Pac-12 to finish the seven-game season one day before the College Football Playoff Committee releases its final CFP Rankings.
So, all the major players are now back in business. Let the fun begin. And if you thought the College Football Playoff Committee had its work cut out for it before, just wait.
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BREAKING: 2020-21 NCAA Basketball Season Will Begin Nov. 25

With the Big Ten announcing it will begin football next month, it already was a big day in college sports.

With the Big Ten announcing it will begin football next month, it already was a big day in college sports. How about another breaking story? This one involves the fate of the basketball season. The following was tweeted by ESPN’s Jeff Bozello:

On Tuesday, Borzello and Myron Medcalf gave a preview of Wednesday’s NCAA Division I Council meeting. If you’re interested in all things college basketball, it’s worth a read. Some of it might even be previewing the details that could come out as we learn more about this decision. Of note, clarity on when and how the next edition of March Madness will take place is not yet present.

The only thing we know for sure is the Pac-12 doesn’t plan on starting its season before January. The Big Ten changing its tune on football could lead to a trickle effect for basketball. A lot needs to be figured out with the season in general, but at least we have a starting point.

It’s official, the Big Ten set to play football in the fall again

Notre Dame’s neighbors are back to playing football in the fall.

The rollercoaster ride is over. The Big Ten made their return to fall football official this morning.

The plan is to play 8 games with a conference championship game. It remains to be seen if the smaller sample size will be enough for a team from the conference to qualify for a spot in the College Football Playoff.  If it is, it’s not good news for the Irish.

What we do know is the conference looked foolish the whole decision making process. The back-and-forth through crazy rumors, like schools wanting to opt out and let the rest of the conference play. How about last night when Nebraska president Ted Carter leaked the plans on a hot mic, then later said it was taken out of context. You be the judge.

There’s bound to be more bumps in the road ahead for the Big Ten, first-year commissioner Kevin Warren hasn’t had an easy introduction to his new role. What we do know is that the first conference to move away from fall football has changed their mind. The Pac-12 could be close to following the Big Ten, and we could see college football “whole” again soon.

Notre Dame jumps in up Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

The Irish move up after defeating Duke 27-13 yesterday.

After one week the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports saw some significant movement inside the Top 25. The Irish were #10 entering the day and after beating Duke 27-13 they moved up three spots to #7.

Part of the movement was the omission of the Big Ten, who according to reports will try and have a fall football season after all. The polls also dropped Pac-12 teams as well.

The Irish are set to face off against South Florida on Saturday, with the kickoff set for 1:30pm CST. Both teams enter the contest undefeated, USF beat The Citadel 27-6 in their opener. The Bulls got 3 votes in today’s poll.

Below is the full Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, with the ACC teams in bold.

Clemson – 1 (last week: 1)

Alabama – 2 (3)

Oklahoma – 3 (6)

Georgia – 4 (4)

LSU – 5 (5)

Florida – 6 (8)

Notre Dame – 7 (10)

Texas – 8 (14)

Auburn – 9 (11)

Texas A&M – 10 (13)

North Carolina – 11 (19)

Oklahoma State – 12 (16)

Central Florida – 13 (21)

Cincinnati – 14 (22)

Memphis – 15 (NR)

Louisville – 16 (NR)

Tennessee – 17 (NR)

Miami – 18 (NR)

Virginia Tech – 19 (24)

Kentucky – 20 (NR)

UL Lafayette – 21 (NR)

BYU – 22 (NR)

App. St. – 23 (NR)

Baylor – 24 (NR)

Army – 25 (NR)

 

Finebaum calls Big Ten ‘laughing stock’ of college football

Dear Lord. Paul Finebaum said something I actually agree with.

It’s rare that I post something from Paul Finebaum that I actually agree with.  That’s not to say he doesn’t make valid points throughout the year but his strongest thoughts and opinions I usually find to be his worst.

That wasn’t the case on Friday, however.

Finebaum was discussing the rumors that the Big Ten may be looking at starting their football season around Thanksgiving and was discussing how ridiculous that would make the conference appear.

It didn’t stop there though as Finebaum brought up how precipitous the Big Ten’s fall from grace has been.

“I think it’s also an indicator of just how dysfunctional this league has become — what a laughingstock this league has become”

“It’s really sad to say this because five weeks ago the Big Ten was considered the gold standard in big-time college football, and now it’s the punchline to almost any joke you can think of.” – Paul Finebaum 8/28/20

Finebaum also compared the Big Ten to a knock-off brand of professional football because of Thanksgiving week idea.

“The competition, you’re up against the NFL at its peak,” Finebaum said. “Once the College Football Playoff is over on Jan. 11, you look like the XFL.”

Like I said, usually if Paul Finebaum gets a post on this website it’s because I’m upset about something he said, but I couldn’t agree more with him here.  So the Big Ten wants to start a football season around Thanksgiving now.

Did I miss that a vaccine for COVID-19 or cure was going to be available by then?

Oh, I didn’t?

The Big Ten has been stumbling all over itself in recent weeks and deserves just about any arrows that are being thrown its way.

Don’t Feel Sorry for the Big Ten or Pac-12 Now

college football never left, only certain conferences and teams did

Let me preface this by saying that I feel awful for the student-athletes that lose a football season, some the last they were ever supposed to play, with almost half of college football calling off the 2020 season and I feel bad for the coaches who don’t get to spend the fall game-planning as well.

But I don’t feel sorry for the Big Ten, specifically those in the most power of the conference.

Ari Wasserman does a great job covering college football for The Athletic.  So great in fact that he just received a well-deserved promotion in becoming their national college football recruiting reporter.

But.

There’s always a but.

His suggestion that those who didn’t prematurely cancel college football for 2020 couldn’t possibly be a worse thought.

 

Wasserman is certainly right that it would be better if all teams and conferences were included, certainly.

But it’d also be better if the world was empty of hate, if everyday was 75 degrees and sunny with a very slight breeze and if your childhood pet lived forever.

Unfortunately that isn’t the case for any of those.

Let’s start by recognizing that if something doesn’t ever leave then it is impossible for it to come back.

If I never leave my house to go to the office then I can’t possibly come back home from being at the office. Simple enough, right?

College football, for 76 of 130 FBS programs, was never canceled.  Perhaps delayed a couple of weeks but it was never called off.  In other words – college football never left, only certain conferences and teams did.

The Big Ten felt the need to try and force the hands of the other Power Five conferences to join them in calling football season off.  God forbid the others think on their own (save the Pac-12) and figure out a way to salvage the season.

If I decide on my own that I’m going to show up for work late on Monday and not be present for my first meeting, do I just get to tell my boss to hold up and wait for me until I’m ready for it to get started?

If my best friend is getting married and I decide to leave my house late to get to the chapel, when I walk in after his bride has already walked down the aisle do I get to push open the doors and demand the restart the entire service?

The Big Ten presidents and Kevin Warren were the ones that rushed to a decision while business owners in college towns nationwide wondered to even a greater extent how they’ll survive this fall.

The Big Ten presidents and Kevin Warren felt the need to be first to cancel out of conference games, which forced the MAC’s hand and then first to call off the entire 2020 season.

The Big Ten presidents and Kevin Warren made those decisions almost a month before the season was scheduled to kickoff and thought because they’re the Big Ten, that everyone else would just follow their lead.

Again, this flat out sucks for the student athletes it effects, especially those who won’t have a senior season as a result.  The best thing I can say to them is that it’s not their fault and hope their respective conferences can get their acts together sooner rather than later.

The Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC and Mountain West all made theses beds.

Sure, it was the University presidents and not those in the athletic departments making those calls in several cases, but these decisions were made unnecessarily early.

Just over a week ago Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren doubled down on the conference’s decision, saying their postponement of fall sports “will not be revisited”.

Nobody told the Big Ten University presidents that a decision had to be made on August 11.

Nobody told the Pac-12 that they had to follow suit just hours after the Big Ten made their announcement.

The Big Ten presidents and Kevin Warren made their bed.

As did those in the Pac-12.

Now it’s not the ACC, Big 12, SEC, AAC, Conference USA or Sun Belt’s responsibility to have to sleep in it.

Watch now – Hilarious video ahead of 2020 college football season

SEC Shorts has put together a video that nearly perfectly gets you ready for college football in 2020. Watch it here!

Happy hump day.

Did you wake up today needing a laugh?

Unless you’re a Chicago White Sox fan and were up late celebrating Lucas Giolito’s no-hitter, you could probably use something to start your day right.

We have news this morning that the Big Ten would not have voted to cancel their football season had the vote been held today.  That only makes the following video that much better as we near college football season.

The following is courtesy of SEC Shorts and is done nearly perfectly.

SEC Shorts – Dramatic 2020 season road trip has a hard time getting started

The Big Ten not listening to anyone else, the smack-talk between the SEC and ACC and the masterful appearances from both the Big 12 and AAC.  All it’s missing is the Pac-12 doing whatever the Big Ten girl says and it would have been a perfect 10!

College Football Playoff committee sets schedule for ‘20 season

We now know when the College Football Playoff committee’s ranking release dates will be.

We all know which poll is really the most important, it’s the College Football Playoff committee’s. With the Big Ten and Pac-12 opting to sit out this fall and try and play in the spring, there was a big decision for the committee if they would go forward as usual. Well, they have made a decision.

They will crown a champion in the fall, regardless of the fact that only three of the major conferences will participate. Does that really even matter though? The Big Ten and Pac-12 have not won a game since the inaugural season of the CFP in 2015, when Ohio State beat Oregon for the title. There is definitely an argument to be made that it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference, the only school that could potentially make a run out of those conferences is Ohio State. They ranked second in the AP’s preseason poll today.

Adding more insult to the Big Ten is the fact that Gary Barta, the Athletic Director for Iowa, is serving as the chair this year, his first representing the conference. Barta will be the face of the CFP, while his conference sits at home and watches from afar while a semifinal game is played in the Rose Bowl.

By the time the first rankings are released, the Irish will have played 9 games, plenty of data points for the committee to make solid decisions on where to place the teams. What is interesting, however, is that last two weeks. The ACC will finish the season with their championship game on December 12th, while the SEC concludes a week later. Traditionally, each conference plays their championship games on the same weekend.

Now that we know what the CFP’s schedule looks like, we can look ahead to what lies in store for the Irish. The jockeying for positioning starts in just a few weekends.