Monday felt like five weeks — it was that long, that tumultuous, that crazy. What does this mean for Tuesday in college football?
Will the Big Ten call it quits or merely delay cancellation?
Will the Pac-12 fold the tent or also hold off on calling it a day for fall football?
Will other Group of Five conferences join the MAC and the Mountain West in shutting down for the fall?
What will the Big 12, SEC and ACC do, if anything?
Will a prominent athlete change the conversation the way Trevor Lawrence did Sunday evening?
Will a medical advisor offer a piece of insight which relieves fears among conference commissioners, or will medical experts lead the conferences to close up shop for the fall?
Will major elected officials weigh in on Twitter, as they did on Monday?
So many questions exist.
Here is what’s worth focusing on, beyond the obvious “will they or won’t they?” questions which could cut in various directions:
The big thing to look at is the collection of explanations and details offered by conferences. If they shut down for the fall, do they express a hope of playing in the spring or not? If they do hold open the spring as a possibility, what concrete steps and policy goals do they put forth?
If conferences don’t shut down for the fall and express the intent to play football this fall, what concrete plans do they provide as a gateway to playing football? What do they say about giving athletes benefits and protections? What do they say about a postseason in which multiple FBS conferences have already left the building? What do they say about having non-athlete students on campus? What do they say about potential revisions of these already-revised game schedules?
Any conference which makes a statement on Tuesday — we will see how many do — will proclaim it is acting with the best interests of the athletes in mind, chiefly their health and safety. Proclamations are all well and good.
On Tuesday, look for details and convincing plans. If the conferences are beginning to show that they actually get it, great. It’s what we all want. If it’s just performative theater meant to stall, however, it’s not worth much of anything.
Buckle up.