NCAA Punts on Tough Football Decisions
The NCAA in general and its president Mark Emmert in particular have once again shown their lack of leadership by deciding to punt on a uniform policy to deal with the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
Instead of making tough decisions on how college sports should proceed -- or not proceed -- the NCAA is leaving things up to the individual conferences.
Here is the only statement the governing body has made on what has been a historic day in college sports:
"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact college sports nationally, the NCAA supports its members as they make important decisions based on their specific circumstances and in the best interest of college athletes' health and well-being."
The NCAA's failure to take the lead in response to the virus has led to inconsistent patchwork of plans across the country as conferences set their own separate courses of action.
The Ivy League and CIAA have decided to cancel all athletic activites through the end of the calendar year.
The Big Ten has announced that it will play only conference games this fall for all sports, including football.
The ACC meanwhile, has delayed the start of its fall season for Olympic sports soccer, cross country, volleyball and field hockey.
As for the football, the conference is still undecided which way to go.
According to reporting by Matt Fortuna of The Athletic, the ACC held an administrative call to determine the best way to proceed, quoting one person on the call as saying there is "no reason to rush."
Part of the problem facing the ACC, unlike other conferences, is that Notre Dame is part of the equation.
Technically an independent, the Irish is scheduled to play six ACC opponents as part of an agreement with the league. That arrangement would be compromised if the ACC chooses to follow the Big Ten's lead and does away with nonconference games in 2020.
The ACC would also have to deal with the fact that several of its teams -- Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville -- all have long-standing rivalry games against SEC opponents on their schedules.
They're tough decisions someone will have to make.
Because the NCAA obviously isn't going to do it.
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