SI Report on 2020 College Football Season Might Worry Pac-12, Cal
When will the 2020 college football season start, and will it begin at the same time for all schools in all states? Those are the million-dollar questions. Or should I say billion-dollar questions. Sports Illustrated tackles those issues by talking to commissioners of the 10 FBS conferences, including the Pac-12’s Larry Scott, and providing a riveting story.
Nine questions are asked, and it seems things may develop differently in California and the West Coast than they do in the rest of the country because western states seem to be proceeding more cautiously. That might have consequences for the Pac-12 and Cal specifically.
This comment in the SI story by American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco could concern Golden Bears fans:
“If California is not playing football but everyone else is, do we still play? My guess is: we would play, but that would create a real problem for the Pac-12 and Mountain West, which have teams in California. I can’t speak for them. But I don’t think that would necessarily inhibit people playing in the rest of the country, but it might mean not playing a game with a California team. It could get uncomfortable and it could get messy if the governors can’t get on the same page, and that’s what you’re hoping happens.”
It could get messy indeed.
The Golden Bears play three nonconference games to start the season, an opener at UNLV and home games against TCU and Cal Poly. Cal Poly is part of the California State University system, so that game is already in jeopardy, but what would happen for a game to be played in Nevada, or a game in Berkeley against a team from Texas? And what about Cal’s second conference game against Utah? Will the Utes have more time to prepare for the season than Cal as the two teams head into that Sept. 26 matchup in Berkeley?
A recent survey in the Chronicle of Higher Education found that 74% of colleges across the country are preparing for in-person classes in the fall, according to the SI story, but in-person fall classes seem unlikely for many colleges in California.
Some commissioners predict that players in some states will return to voluntary on-campus work in June, according to the SI story, which also reports that the consensus is that a six-week training camp would begin in mid-July. That's what Pac-12 coaches have been saying this week.
(Story continues below)
Here are the nine questions SI asked the commissioners, plus Notre Dame’s athletic director, with a response to the question by Scott when an answer by the Pac-12 commissioner is provided: (Sports Illustrated also provides a video.)
1) Who’s going to make the decision to restart on-campus training?
2) When must decisions be made to begin on-campus athletic training and on whether to delay the season’s start?
Scott: [The six-week training camp] would follow the concept of walk, jog and then run. It would start at conditioning and getting them to a baseline level of conditioning and then [work] in small groups, which is following all the medical advice we’re getting: keep small groups and distancing. Then at the latter stages of the training camp, it’s the full team and the contact. There will be a universal date on when the six weeks starts.
3) Can you have on-campus athletic activities without students attending classes in person?
Scott: A lot of universities have declared their intention to open up and have students on campus, which for me and a lot of my colleagues across the country has been a gating issue. We’ve felt that if our campuses are uncomfortable having students back on campus, we could not envision having student-athletes back on campus competing.
4) What if some schools can open and others, because of state governing orders, cannot?
Scott: I’m hopeful and optimistic that if our universities and conferences, with the benefit of medical expertise, determine it’s safe for training camp to open in July and season open in August, we’re going to be able to do that nationally in a coordinated way.
5) Once football teams return to campus, what does pre-season football training look like—in terms of testing, practice schedules, etc.?
6) During the season, if/when someone tests positive, what happens?
7) Will fans be allowed to attend?
Scott: I fully expect that there will be regional differences, state-by-state, in terms of policies affecting fans. It’s our hope and plan that the football season starts on time, we have a full football season, but I would expect there are differences state-by-state in terms of when fans are allowed to attend games.
Scott, regarding the Oregon governor’s edict that all events through September with large gatherings, including sports events, should be modified or canceled: “September is a very long way away from where we are now, and we’re going to learn a lot more between now and then. I’d hope and expect the officials in Oregon will stay open-minded and let the data and the science and let the medical experts guide us.”
8) If you have a truncated season, do you play just conference games?
9) If a season can’t be played in the fall, can it be played in the spring?
Scott (Pac-12): A lot of universities have declared their intention to open up and have students on campus, which for me and a lot of my colleagues across the country has been a gating issue. We’ve felt that if our campuses are uncomfortable having students back on campus, we could not envision having student-athletes back on campus competing.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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