Michigan Not Playing Is Unfair And It's The NCAA's Fault

Kwity Paye and Ryan Hayes both feel like they should be getting ready to play a game.

It already felt unfair that Michigan and the rest of the Big Ten wasn't playing when you considered that the ACC, Big 12 and SEC were getting set to kick things off.

Then Rivals.com posted a graphic showing which states were allowing high school football to take place.

The map shows that 36 states are going to be playing football this fall and several have already started.

Actually, make that 37. As of about an hour ago, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that fall sports can officially reconvene Sept. 8 with the first week of games kicking off about 10 days later.

Finally, we'll all be watching the NFL starting next Thursday. 

So to recap: 37 states are playing high school football, three of five Power 5 conferences are playing football, the entire NFL is playing football and other sports and leagues have figured out ways to make their respective contests happen. So why the hell isn't Michigan playing football this weekend or next?

The whole thing just makes no sense. Michigan leaders and starters Kwity Paye and Ryan Hayes both touched on exactly that today and asked essentially the same question — why are other guys playing but we're not?

I can't imagine how frustrated the players are. They work their whole lives for the opportunity to play college football and potentially change their families lives. They've been working out, lifting, studying and practicing since January only to be teased with a modified schedule that was cancelled just six days later. 

The bad guy here is the NCAA. By being absent and not making a decision for everyone to follow, each conference was left to figure it out for itself, resulting in some postponing and some continuing on. Whether the season should be played or not is an argument in an of itself, but everyone should be on the same page. That's where the frustration and feeling of unfairness comes in and that's a massive failure by the NCAA, which normally likes to meddle in anything it can.

With that said, it feels like change is on the way. The Big Ten is reportedly considering a revote that could result in football starting next month. If not October, perhaps a Thanksgiving start is in the cards and if not, maybe in January. However, it plays out, it feels like we'll definitely have football before next fall, which we're all happy about.

I can't imagine just skipping an entire season of Michigan football. I look forward to watching every weekend and, oh by the way, it essentially pays my bills. So I'm hoping for a start sooner rather than later.