Complete Revised Pac-12 Schedule, and What You Need to Know About It
The Pac-12 answered a lot of question about the 2020 football season when it unveiled each team's 10-game, conference-only schedule on Friday, but some issues remain cloudy:
The Pac-12 is the first conference to release a revised 2020 football schedule, and we present the week-by-week schedule for all Pac-12 teams at the bottom of this story.
But first we address some of the issues that were touched upon in Friday's media webinar involving Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, Stanford coach David Shaw, Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson and Oregon State associate athletic director for sports medicine, Dr. Doug Auckerman:
--The season is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Sept. 26, not Saturday, Sept. 19 as reported a week ago.
--Kickoff times and television coverage have not yet been determined.
--A conference championship game is scheduled for Dec. 18 or 19 at the home site of the division winner with the better record. The game will not be played in Las Vegas as originally scheduled.
--A bye week is built in for each team in the middle of the season and an open date is included at the end of the season to provide dates when games that must be postponed because of COVID-19 health issues can be made up.
--The Pac-12 is ready to adjust its schedule depending on whether games need to be postponed. There is no guarantee that any games will be played. Asked what he believes the chances are of the Pac-12 having a football season this year, the Pac-12's Scott said Friday, "I don't know."
--The second phase of preseason perparation can begin Monday, August 3. The second phase includes 20 hours of summer access mandatory activities, These activities do not include contact and players will not be wearing pads. These workouts are subject to public health orders of the region, which could be a problem for Cal since the state of California, Alameda County and the City of Berkeley have been restrictive in what they are allowing.
Cal's release on the revised schedule included this note:
Under the current Berkeley Public Health Order, Cal football student-athletes may conduct outdoor workouts only and in cohorts of no more than 12.
--The preseason training camps can begin as early as August 17, subject to local medical mandates, which again could be an issue for Cal.
--All teams are scheduled to play five home games and five road games in the revised schedules, which are dramatically different from the original schedules.
--Games have been scheduled early in the seson if they are to be played where there is a high concentration of COVID-19 cases. The reasoning is that if those games must be postponed because of virus issues, it gives those schools more time to make up those games. For example, the high number of COVID-19 cases in the Los Angeles area is why the UCLA-USC game, generally played at the end of the season, is now the season opener for both teams.
--Whether fans will be allowed at games will be determined by the host schools, not by the Pac-12, and that will be determined by local health officials. As a result, fans might be allowed to attend games for some Pac-12 games and not others. This suggests Cal will be playing home games without fans in the stands.
--It is possible that Pac-12 teams will play fewer than 10 games, and it is also possible that some Pac-12 teams may play more games than other Pac-12 teams. How a division champion will be determined if that situation occurs is unclear.
---The Pac-12 has not determined what the health criteria will be for deciding whether a team can play in a given week. It will not be as simple as merely adding up the number of players who test positive, because there will be no set number of cases that will rule out a team from playing in a given week.
"We're trying to come up with specific criteria," OSU's Dr. Aukerman, said Friday, "but you can't just say a certain number of players [who test positive rules out a team]."
Issues such as when the virus is contracted, whether the cases on a team are related, and whether the cases can be traced back to their origin are just some of the variables in determining whether a team can safely play a game in a given week.
"It's hard to come up with just an easy quick number [of positive cases]," Dr. Aukerman said. "If there was, everybody in every conference would already have it."
The Pac-12 hopes to have standarized criteria by the time games are played, but it will be complex.
Click here for the Pac-12 health protocols.
Here is the entire Pac-12 webinar from Friday:
.
Below is the complete revised 2020 Pac-12 football schedule.
.
Saturday, Sept 26
CALIFORNIA at OREGON STATE
ARIZONA STATE at ARIZONA
USC at UCLA
COLORADO at OREGON
UTAH at WASHINGTON STATE
STANFORD at WASHINGTON
.
Saturday, Oct. 3
CALIFORNIA at USC
ARIZONA at WASHINGTON
UCLA at OREGON STATE
UTAH at COLORADO
STANFORD at ARIZONA STATE
OREGON at WASHINGTON STATE
.
Friday, Oct. 9
ARIZONA STATE at OREGON
.
Saturday, Oct. 10
WASHINGTON at CALIFORNIA
USC at STANFORD
COLORADO at ARIZONA
OREGON STATE at UTAH
WASHINGTON STATE at UCLA
.
Friday, Oct. 16
UTAH at UCLA
.
Saturday, Oct. 17
CALIFORNIA at WASHINGTON STATE
OREGON at OREGON STATE
COLORADO at USC
Bye - Arizona, ASU, Stanford, Washington
.
Saturday, Oct. 24
STANFORD at CALIFORNIA
USC at ARIZONA
UCLA at ARIZONA STATE
OREGON STATE at WASHINGTON
Bye - Colorado, Utah, Oregon, WSU
.
Friday, Oct. 30
WASHINGTON STATE at STANFORD
.
Saturday Oct. 31
ARIZONA at UTAH
ARIZONA STATE at COLORADO
WASHINGTON at OREGON
Bye - USC, UCLA, California, OSU
.
Friday, Nov. 6
COLORADO at WASHINGTON
.
Saturday, Nov. 7
OREGON at CALIFORNIA
ARIZONA at OREGON STATE
UTAH at ARIZONA STATE
STANFORD at UCLA
WASHINGTON STATE at USC
.
Saturday, Nov. 14
CALIFORNIA at ARIZONA
ARIZONA STATE at WASHINGTON STATE
USC at OREGON
UCLA at COLORADO
OREGON STATE at STANFORD
WASHINGTON at UTAH
.
Friday, Nov. 20
OREGON at ARIZONA
.
Saturday, Nov. 21
UTAH at CALIFORNIA
ARIZONA STATE at USC
UCLA at WASHINGTON
COLORADO at STANFORD
WASHINGTON STATE at OREGON STATE
.
Friday, Nov. 27
USC at UTAH
WASHINGTON at WASHINGTON STATE
.
Saturday, Nov. 28
CALIFORNIA at ARIZONA STATE
ARIZONA at UCLA
OREGON STATE at COLORADO
STANFORD at OREGON
.
Friday, Dec. 4
UCLA at CALIFORNIA
.
Saturday, Dec. 5
ARIZONA at STANFORD
OREGON at UTAH
OREGON STATE at ARIZONA STATE
WASHINGTON at USC
WASHINGTON STATE at COLORADO
.
Dec. 11-12
OPEN DATE
.
Dec. 18 or 19
PAC-12 TITLE GAME AT HOME SITE OF A TEAM
.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.
