How COVID-19 Is Affecting the College Football Postseason

As a new wave of the novel coronavirus makes its way across the United States, many sports are having to adapt to constant changes-- and college football is no exception.

Although professional teams such as the NFL, NBA and NHL have been the most heavily affected, the virus has taken hold over college football and basketball over the past few days. Luckily, most basketball games can still be rescheduled since it is early in the season, but college football programs are not so fortunate.

Two bowl games have already been canceled due to an increase in positive Covid-19 tests: the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl and the SoFi Hawaii Bowl. Texas A&M withdrew from the Gator Bowl against Wake Forest earlier this week, citing the limited number of scholarship players the team had available. According to the Aggies football program, with the number of sick players they have-- on top of those who are injured, chose to opt out, or have entered the transfer portal-- it would be impossible to field a team. Fortunately, Rutgers was chosen as the replacement team and agreed to compete on Dec. 31. The University of Hawaii withdrew from the Hawaii Bowl, which was supposed to be played tonight, late yesterday. Their opponent, the Memphis Tigers, were already in Hawaii and prepared to play.

Most of the smaller bowl games have a simple rule: if one team withdraws, there must be a new opponent or the game will be canceled. Since these games serve as a "bonus" for eligible teams and play no part in determining a national champion, there aren't repercussions for having no contest.

However, some changes have been made regarding four of the New Year's Six bowl games. According to the College Football Playoff Management Committee, the Fiesta and Peach Bowls can be rescheduled within a week of the originally scheduled date. If the game cannot be played, then it will be declared a no-contest with neither team forced to forfeit.

There are different plans in place for the CFP Semifinals. If one team is unable to play, they will forfeit the semifinal game to the opponent, who will advance to the national championship. If two teams cannot play in one semifinal game, the winner of the other semifinal will be declared the national champion. Lastly, if three teams become sick and cannot compete, the remaining healthy team will be declared the national champion. Once the semifinals are over, if two healthy teams make it to the national championship and one becomes unavailable, the game can be rescheduled no later than Jan. 14. The remaining, unaffected team will be declared the winner if the game cannot be played.

While that doesn't seem fair, it's the best that can be done in these times. The games cannot be pushed too far back, because events such as the NFL Combine and Reese's Senior Bowl might serve as a conflict. Hopefully, all teams will remain unscathed and be able to play fairly.

The AutoZone Liberty Bowl between Mississippi State and Texas Tech is still scheduled to be played on Dec. 28 as originally planned. There have been no outbreaks of the virus on either team.