SEC's Moves Make Clear It Won't Concede Any Part of 2020 Season Until Necessary

Even though the University of Alabama football team currently doesn't have an opponent for its season opener, neither it or the Southeastern Conference are ready to concede it or any other part of the 2020 schedule.

That's the message the league has been sending this week as its athletic directors met on Monday, and will continue in their efforts to keep the fall season as intact as possible.

It's sill trying to do the equivalent of trying to swim against a current. Thursday afternoon, the MEAC became the latest conference to cancel its entire season.

However, a key part of those efforts has started to take shape as noted in the Sports Illustrated exclusive: Power 5 Conferences to Release Universal, Minimum COVID-19 Testing Standards for Fall Sports

The uniform COVID-19 testing guidelines would include once-a-week testing, 10-day isolation for positives, and mandatory 14-day quarantines for positive contacts. There are also stipulations for canceled games. Group of 5 conferences and the NCAA are expected to release their own guidelines, too.

The move comes during a time in which many of the states the SEC plays in continue to have different approaches to the dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, Alabama just became the 36th state requiring everyone wear masks in public. Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp is forbidding any city or county in Georgia from requiring masks, while Florida continues to open theme parks.

Dealing with the challenges dominated Monday's meeting, which dealt with a variety of subjects including contingency models for alternate fall schedules. Three emerged as strong possibilities with league powerbrokers, but they still ranged from playing an eight-game conference-only schedule to trying to have everyone play a full season.

The more preferred plans are the one that consists of a nine or 10-game schedule with one or two non-conference games. But a lot will depend on what happens over the next couple of weeks.

Alabama lost its season opener against Southern California as the Pac-12 and Big Ten have already decided to move to a conference-only schedule in 2020. Doing so provided them with flexibility for interrupted games.

It goes hand-in-hand with the testing requirements.

The bottom line is having a uniform standard in place will only help the SEC keep its options open moving forward.

Quarterback week continues on SIAA

Numerous 2021 Alabama football commitments and targets were named SI All-American candidates on Wednesday as a watch list of 1,000 prospects was released.

Look for numerous and regular announcements regarding SIAA's evaluation of the Class of 2021 moving forward, beginning with quarterbacks this week.

On Thursday, Caleb Williams, quarterback out of Washington, D.C., was named SIAA's initial No. 1 prospect in America. He recently committed to Oklahoma, and with his athleticism, arm strength, football I.Q., and recently winning the Elite 11, Williams will only be an asset for the Sooners.

Meanwhile, former NFL and collegiate head coach Jim Mora joined SI All-American's John Garcia Jr. to break down two quarterbacks on SIAA's Top Ten list: Brock Vandagriff out of Georgia and Drake Maye out of South Carolina.

Vandagriff has committed to Georgia while Maye is committed to UNC.

Forty-four players from the state of Alabama are on the watch list for the 2020 SI All-American team.

Did you notice?

• Tony Barnhart: The SEC Is On The Clock. What Happens Next?

• 'New Sort of Family Unit': How MLB’s Families Navigate an Unusual Season

• Division-III St. Thomas (Minn.), which got kicked out of its conference for winning too much, has been approved by the NCAA to make an unprecedented jump to Division I.

• Jrue Holliday is donating his game checks (about $5 million) from the NBA restart to start a social justice fund.

The lighter side

• Just when Mets fans thought it couldn’t get worse than being owned by the Wilpons, casino ghoul Sheldon Adelson has emerged as a potential buyer.

• Who are the most (and least) watchable teams in MLB this year?

• A scientist has determined the human limit for hot dog consumption, coming up with a figure that would be the equivalent of pitching a perfect game in baseball No. we will not post the video (you're welcome).

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