Does anyone really think that the college football season will take place as planned this fall?
On Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci was interviewed on ESPN’s Daily podcast where he brought up the reason why college football has no chance. Namely, it’s college. There cannot be college football without students on campus, because that would mean admitting that college football players are special. But students returning to campus will further the spread of coronavirus, regardless of what students and staff do to limit the spread.
I don’t know how many different times or different ways we have to say “we can’t re-open until the virus is under control” until people in power (ahem Republicans ahem) listen and stop fighting a war against science.
These issues bubbed to the surface on Saturday when the Washington Post reported on a leaked conference call with SEC players and officials. The players were acutely aware of the potential risks. They asked good questions about testing, safety, and exposure. They did not receive any good answers.
The whining about lost revenue by athletic directors in recent weeks, such as Jaime Pollard at Iowa State and Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, has laid bare the disgusting motivation behind college football. Yes, we knew it was all about money. Stiil, we didn’t appreciate how much more the money means than the player’s health. Essentially, a bunch of rich old white guys want a bunch of unpaid young black kids to make them more money. It’s gross.
While conferences are taking half-measures to attempt a fall season, it’s simply not going to work. Moving the season back or playing only conference games would help if the virus was flatlining. It’s not. It’s out of control. We don’t get to travel around to play sports until it’s under control. Any discussions about playing before that is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Unlike the NFL or NBA or NHL, college football leaders can’t put players in a bubble. Well, technically, they could, but that would ruin the crumbling facade of “amateurism” and “student athletes” so they’re going to put players at risk instead.
While the Legacy Five conferences barrel into a looming disaster, it’s time for the Group of Five to make a power move. Take a stand by putting players first and come together to move the season to the spring right now.
Why Would the Group of Five Play in Fall?
The motivation for the Legacy Five is very clear, because they make ungodly amounts of money from playing college football each fall and TV networks want that.
The Group of Five makes some money from TV, but there’s a big difference between a few million per year and $50 million per year for a school. The impetus to play in fall is lessened further with the removal of out of conference, as many Group of FIve schools rely on one or two “payday” games from Legacy Five schools to balance budgets. Heck, UConn’s entire move to independence is largely predicated on supplementing lost AAC TV money with payday games, and they may be the first to pull the plug on a fall season.
Furthermore, the Group of Five will also likely lose any bowl opportunities, with the Redbox Bowl on Friday the first to be cancelled. Is there any doubt that many more will follow? Who knows if any bowl games will be played. Even if college football is forced to go to a one-year expanded playoff, do we really think the Group of FIve would be invited?
Make the Move Now, And Show Players You Care
After reading the Washington Post story, I felt dirty. These officials truly do not care about their players. By coming together and moving games to the spring together, the Group of FIve conferences will be paying more than lip service to their players. It’s unsafe to play this fall and it’s time for school officials to acknowledge this.
The Legacy Five has always had the advantage of money on their side. The Group of Five can return fire by proving its advantage about caring about players. When the fall season inevitably falls apart -- either before or after games starts -- the Group of Five will come out smelling like roses.
The Plan is Simple - 10 Games Starting in Late January
I wrote in detail about my idea for spring college football, which you can read here, and the particulars remain largely unchanged. Each team plays a 10-game schedule that ends on April 3. I propose at least 9 games be conference games with one non-conference game, so the Group of Five can bring the independents (BYU, New Mexico State, Army, UMass, and UConn) with them. BYU and New Mexico State can become de facto Mountain West members, UMass and UConn can play MAC teams, and Army can join Navy in playing AAC schools. It also allows for games between schools within driving distance but not in the same conference, like Houston and Rice, East Carolina and Charlotte, etc.
The season ends on April 3 like I proposed, with Navy/Army still on April 10, as a bye week before the playoffs start.
Wait, Playoffs?!?
Bowl games aren’t happening unless they are happening on campus. However, if the Group of Five breaks apart for one season, what would even be the point of bowl games? Take advantage of these unique circumstances to create an 8-team playoff, with 5 automatic berths for each conference champion and 3 at-large slots, which opens up an opportunity for the independent teams and non-conference winners.
The quarterfinals take place on April 17, the semis take place on April 24, and the final takes place on Saturday, May 1, right after the Kentucky Derby.
But Wait, Does This Really Make Sense?
I got a lot of interesting questions from my first piece on a potential spring season, so since the same basics apply, I’ll answer them all now.
What about college basketball season?
What about it? If every game is played on a Saturday, there should be no issue. The Group of Five conferences can schedule basketball games around that knowing college football will be in the spring.
For TV networks, wouldn’t they rather air college football than college basketball?
For March Madness, yes, it would be competition. And it’s not ideal. But there’s no guarantee March Madness or college basketball is being played as scheduled either, and it’s a one-year stop gap.
As a sports fan, I think I’ll survive if I have to watch the NCAA TOurnament and college football on the same day. The only worry would be if eating that many buffalo wings in one day would stop my heart.
What about the NFL Draft?
The NFL Draft would fall in line with the playoffs, as I currently laid out. There’s two options here. Either the NFL would agree to move the draft back a few weeks to give kids on playoff teams an opportunity to meet with NFL teams or NFL teams will be “forced” to only evaluate them based on game film. If anything, the Group of Five playing without Legacy Five games going on would give scouts more opportunity to watch players instead of spending every Saturday in the BIg Ten or SEC.
What if it’s still not safe?
I got this question a lot from fans who really want fall football to happen, health of players be damned. Several tweets at me included some variation of, “How do you know if it will be safe in spring?”
I don’t. I remain hopeful that at some point, this stupid country gets its act together so we can play sports.
What I do know is that it’s not safe at the moment to play a full season. We have to be realistic that the potential for safe fall college football season is 0%. Even the potential for a safe spring football season is 10%, that’s enough reason to try and make it work.
Maybe we get to January 1st and the country is still such a disaster that we have to scrap the spring football season. You know that? That’s fine.
The health of players, coaches, and staff, as well as their families, should always come first. The Group of Five needs to prove that’s the case, if the Legacy Five won’t.
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I don’t know how many different times or different ways we have to say “we can’t re-open until the virus is under control” until people in power (ahem Republicans ahem) listen and stop fighting a war against science.
These issues bubbed to the surface on Saturday when the Washington Post reported on a leaked conference call with SEC players and officials. The players were acutely aware of the potential risks. They asked good questions about testing, safety, and exposure. They did not receive any good answers.
The whining about lost revenue by athletic directors in recent weeks, such as Jaime Pollard at Iowa State and Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin, has laid bare the disgusting motivation behind college football. Yes, we knew it was all about money. Stiil, we didn’t appreciate how much more the money means than the player’s health. Essentially, a bunch of rich old white guys want a bunch of unpaid young black kids to make them more money. It’s gross.
While conferences are taking half-measures to attempt a fall season, it’s simply not going to work. Moving the season back or playing only conference games would help if the virus was flatlining. It’s not. It’s out of control. We don’t get to travel around to play sports until it’s under control. Any discussions about playing before that is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Unlike the NFL or NBA or NHL, college football leaders can’t put players in a bubble. Well, technically, they could, but that would ruin the crumbling facade of “amateurism” and “student athletes” so they’re going to put players at risk instead.
While the Legacy Five conferences barrel into a looming disaster, it’s time for the Group of Five to make a power move. Take a stand by putting players first and come together to move the season to the spring right now.
Why Would the Group of Five Play in Fall?
The motivation for the Legacy Five is very clear, because they make ungodly amounts of money from playing college football each fall and TV networks want that.
The Group of Five makes some money from TV, but there’s a big difference between a few million per year and $50 million per year for a school. The impetus to play in fall is lessened further with the removal of out of conference, as many Group of FIve schools rely on one or two “payday” games from Legacy Five schools to balance budgets. Heck, UConn’s entire move to independence is largely predicated on supplementing lost AAC TV money with payday games, and they may be the first to pull the plug on a fall season.
Furthermore, the Group of Five will also likely lose any bowl opportunities, with the Redbox Bowl on Friday the first to be cancelled. Is there any doubt that many more will follow? Who knows if any bowl games will be played. Even if college football is forced to go to a one-year expanded playoff, do we really think the Group of FIve would be invited?
Make the Move Now, And Show Players You Care
After reading the Washington Post story, I felt dirty. These officials truly do not care about their players. By coming together and moving games to the spring together, the Group of FIve conferences will be paying more than lip service to their players. It’s unsafe to play this fall and it’s time for school officials to acknowledge this.
The Legacy Five has always had the advantage of money on their side. The Group of Five can return fire by proving its advantage about caring about players. When the fall season inevitably falls apart -- either before or after games starts -- the Group of Five will come out smelling like roses.
I wrote in detail about my idea for spring college football, which you can read here, and the particulars remain largely unchanged. Each team plays a 10-game schedule that ends on April 3. I propose at least 9 games be conference games with one non-conference game, so the Group of Five can bring the independents (BYU, New Mexico State, Army, UMass, and UConn) with them. BYU and New Mexico State can become de facto Mountain West members, UMass and UConn can play MAC teams, and Army can join Navy in playing AAC schools. It also allows for games between schools within driving distance but not in the same conference, like Houston and Rice, East Carolina and Charlotte, etc.
The season ends on April 3 like I proposed, with Navy/Army still on April 10, as a bye week before the playoffs start.
Wait, Playoffs?!?
Bowl games aren’t happening unless they are happening on campus. However, if the Group of Five breaks apart for one season, what would even be the point of bowl games? Take advantage of these unique circumstances to create an 8-team playoff, with 5 automatic berths for each conference champion and 3 at-large slots, which opens up an opportunity for the independent teams and non-conference winners.
The quarterfinals take place on April 17, the semis take place on April 24, and the final takes place on Saturday, May 1, right after the Kentucky Derby.
But Wait, Does This Really Make Sense?
I got a lot of interesting questions from my first piece on a potential spring season, so since the same basics apply, I’ll answer them all now.
What about college basketball season?
What about it? If every game is played on a Saturday, there should be no issue. The Group of Five conferences can schedule basketball games around that knowing college football will be in the spring.
For TV networks, wouldn’t they rather air college football than college basketball?
For March Madness, yes, it would be competition. And it’s not ideal. But there’s no guarantee March Madness or college basketball is being played as scheduled either, and it’s a one-year stop gap.
As a sports fan, I think I’ll survive if I have to watch the NCAA TOurnament and college football on the same day. The only worry would be if eating that many buffalo wings in one day would stop my heart.
What about the NFL Draft?
The NFL Draft would fall in line with the playoffs, as I currently laid out. There’s two options here. Either the NFL would agree to move the draft back a few weeks to give kids on playoff teams an opportunity to meet with NFL teams or NFL teams will be “forced” to only evaluate them based on game film. If anything, the Group of Five playing without Legacy Five games going on would give scouts more opportunity to watch players instead of spending every Saturday in the BIg Ten or SEC.
What if it’s still not safe?
I got this question a lot from fans who really want fall football to happen, health of players be damned. Several tweets at me included some variation of, “How do you know if it will be safe in spring?”
I don’t. I remain hopeful that at some point, this stupid country gets its act together so we can play sports.
What I do know is that it’s not safe at the moment to play a full season. We have to be realistic that the potential for safe fall college football season is 0%. Even the potential for a safe spring football season is 10%, that’s enough reason to try and make it work.
Maybe we get to January 1st and the country is still such a disaster that we have to scrap the spring football season. You know that? That’s fine.
The health of players, coaches, and staff, as well as their families, should always come first. The Group of Five needs to prove that’s the case, if the Legacy Five won’t.
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