ACC Could Begin 2020 Season Without Members

Spread of COVID19 is highest in Northeast right now, could that impact whether BC plays this season

Yesterday, The Stadium's Brett McMurphy spoke with various conference commissioners and athletic directors about some of the contingency plans around getting the 2020 college football season in amidst the COVID19 outbreak. They discussed playing in empty stadiums, and holding a season even if there aren't students on campus. But the part that stuck out was a quote from ACC Commissioner John Swofford and Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby:

“I suspect if the majority of schools can play, then they should play,” said Swofford of the ACC. “It’s on our radar. We’ll cross that bridge later. Hopefully we won’t be in that situation.”

Added the Big 12’s Bowlsby: “It’s not practical to make everyone wait and not play just because of one school in one vicinity.”

This is concerning for Boston College for a number of reasons. First, the state of Massachusetts has one of the highest outbreak rates in the country, and lie in an area that has become the epicenter of the pandemic. 

As seen above, the rest of the ACC have numbers that are below where Massachusetts currently lies. Even Syracuse, who is in a high volume state, is in a county with significantly small infection numbers in comparison to other counties in the state. 

Boston College is also part of a major city, and one with the some of the highest rates in the state of Massachusetts, which makes sense given the amount of people living in close quarters.  Also while most of the country has shown that social distancing, and closing of non essential businesses has "flattened the curve", recent data shows that Massachusetts has not hit that point yet.  

Of course there are still three months before the scheduled start of the 2020 college football season and the current situation could change over that time. Recently, Massachusetts began to mandate masks in public places in the hope of reducing rates of the virus. While testing is gradually increasing and researchers around the world are working furiously to find a vaccine and ways to treat COVID19.  Numbers could be lower by the time summer camps start, or as many researchers warn, they could spike again this summer. 

Boston College's season could be in danger if the ACC is seriously considering the health of their athletes, and insists on starting the season on time. But it is important to note that there have been lots of discussions about all sorts of options for the upcoming college football season. There has been talk about starting the season later (November), playing in the second semester, playing a season split across semesters, or reducing games by eliminating out of conference games. 

College commissioners will have lots of options on the table, and the national and regional situation could change between May and August. But for now, it is worth noting that the ACC could move on with a season without some of their members. 

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