Junior Colleges Go to Spring Football -- Will FBS Schools Follow?
Not long ago the idea that college football might be played in the spring seemed silly. Well, it has become a little more practical the past few days as the nation’s two major junior college organizations announced they will play football in the spring this season.
Does the junior college move establish another precedent Division I schools could follow, or are the two entities too different to draw comparisons?
And what is the impact of the Monday announcements by the governors of California and Oregon that they are rolling back re-openings of many businesses as a result of the rise of coronavirus cases? Will that add pressure to push the college football season to spring a a last resort?
The most intriguing outcome of the move by the junior colleges is that we will have football in June 2021, although officials at FBS schools such as Cal are more concerned with the possible impact the move could have on them.
The California Community College Athletic Association announced last week that its members, which include the City College of San Francisco, will begin their football seasons in February, and the National Junior College Athletic Association announced on Monday that it will also play a spring schedule, which begins in March.
Players from the CCCAA have helped Cal in recent years. CCSF gave Cal current running back DeShawn Collins and 2019 place-kicker Greg Thomas, and another CCCAA school, El Camino Community College, gave the Bears current wide receiver Trevon Clark. Jordan Kunaszyk, an all-Pac-12 selection as a Cal linebacker in 2018, attended American River College, which is also part of the CCCAA. And let's not forget Aaron Rodgers, who spent a year playing at Butte College, where he was spotted by Jeff Tedford.
The NJCAA includes Independence Junior College, which is the school Cal linebacker Kuony Deng attended before arriving in Berkeley.
The decision by the two junior college associations is significant for the Pac-12 for two reasons:
--1. Recruiting is affected, because the spring junior college season will be after the early national signing period in December 2020 as well as the traditional signing period in February 2021.
Most of the Pac-12 schools have some junior college players on their rosters. Arizona currently has 11 junior college players, Washington State has eight, and defending Pac-12 champion Oregon has seven.
Pac-12 schools interested in recruiting JC talent for 2021 will either have to rely on film from the 2019 season or wait until spring or summer to offer scholarships to junior college players.
--2. This move sets a precedent. If the two major junior college football organizations can play football in the spring, why can’t FBS schools?
It will further implant that seed in the head of FBS athletic directors and conference commissioners. Major college football programs consider a spring schedule a last resort, but the recent rise in COVID-19 cases is changing the options every day.
Ivy League schools will not play football this fall but are exploring the possibility of a spring football season.
The JC move represents one more domino to fall, and more could follow
Both junior college organizations are planning abbreviated regular seasons.
The California Community College Athletic Association will begin preseason camp on January 18, with the seven-game regular season (plus one scrimmage) beginning February 13 and ending April 6. Its playoff schedule would start April 6 an end April 17.
The National Junior College Athletic Association will begin practice on March 1 and a seven-game regular season on March 25. The regular season would end May 15 and all postseason games would be finished by June 3.
Yes, football in June.
The NJCAA would start its basketball season on January 29, and the CCCAA would start to play basketball games on February 5.
Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
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