The 11 People Who Will Decide College Football's Return

After two months of shutdown, @RossDellenger and @ByPatForde gathered the 11 most important voices in deciding college football’s fate. The insight, hopes and fears of conference commissioners:

Will college football play this season, and if so, when?

The 11 people who will come up with the answers to those questions as well as the myriad of others that crop up as football attempts to return back to normal following the coronavirus pandemic, have been meeting on conference calls on a regular basis over the last two months.

The commissioners of football’s 10 biggest conferences, as well as the athletic director of football independent Notre Dame, spoke to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde and Ross Dellinger about the job in front of them as they attempt to get the billion-dollar revenue generator for all of college sports back in business.

The commissioners of the Power Five leagues—ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12—have been speaking on a daily basis since campuses went dark in March. The Group of Five—the next-largest conferences in football—have been meeting weekly, and the entire group holds biweekly calls.

While those meetings haven’t resulted in many decisions, there is still a feeling of optimism among the 11, and it seems to be growing.

That’s because of the progress that’s already been made. The commissioners agree that a six-week training camp, starting in mid-July, is necessary to get players back into game shape in tie for the start of the season.

As for a potential delay to that start, while there’s no decision yet, they know when it has to be made—by the end of June, and hopefully sooner.

“We’re looking at June 1 from an NCAA standpoint and collective standpoint as a day to reconsider everything and get everybody on the same page as much as we can,” said ACC commissioner John Swofford.

There still plenty that needs to be worked out: Will fans be able to attend games? Could a season be shortened to just conference games, if the start is delayed, or could the season extend into spring?