Here’s the latest on what is being said about a potential NCAA football shutdown
Will there be college football this fall?
That’s the big question as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the United States. Connecticut said it won’t play football this fall, while the Mid-American Conference will attempt to play in the spring.
Now there is talk that at least two of the Power Five conferences won’t play this fall. But players have pushed back with a #WeWantToPlay movement on social media.
Things are moving fast, but here is what national media members are saying about the fate of college football in 2020.
Dan Patrick said Monday morning he’s been told the Big Ten and Pac-12 will announce their intention to skip the 2020 season:
Hours after Patrick’s pronouncement, the Detroit Free Press reported the Big Ten will cancel the season Tuesday and is hoping to have other Big Five conferences join them.
“The cancellation of season comes a week after the Big Ten revealed an updated 10-game conference-only schedule for 2020, and just days after teams in the conference opened fall camp,” the Free Press reported.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports wrote a column with the headline, “As college football stares into the abyss, players deserve answers.”
This is an excerpt: “A half-dozen coaches told Yahoo Sports over the weekend that there’s a yearning for answers from their teams. Pushing players through a training camp without football on the other end is just cruel. Make no mistake, the players want to play. Badly. And that yearning came through in the relentless online outcry on Sunday night.
“If they don’t play, they deserve to know from the NCAA how this impacts their scholarship, what options seniors have and whether a player who redshirts can extend his career. ‘It’s the No. 1 question in college football,’ a Power 5 coach said late Sunday. ‘Do you have eligibility answers?’
“Players can’t keep being ‘yo-yo’d’ around, to use a Power Five AD’s term. They’ve had the goal line moved on them enough. It’s up to the leaders in college sports to gather themselves and build a clear plan.”
On Monday morning Thamel addressed the Big 12’s future:
Paul Finebaum said on ESPN’s “Get Up” that a recent study indicating the possibility of lasting heart issues for athletes because of the coronavirus may be impacting the decision on whether to play:
Danny Kanell of CBS Sports on Monday addressed the talk of college football’s future:
Bleacher Report’s Matt Hayes said the threat of players joining together scares the NCAA:
Hayes later added that the Big 12 appears to want to play:
ESPN’s Booger McFarland said Monday if he had a son, he wouldn’t want him to play football this fall:
Joel Klatt of Fox Sports shared this video about what needs to be considered when deciding to play football this fall:
And finally, this would be a twist: former Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel said some Big Ten teams have reached out to the Big 12.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 9:41 AM.
