College Football Just Got Weird

A partnership between the SEC, Big 12 and ACC — or just including certain schools, like Oklahoma — would fly in the face of convention in a churning 2020 season

Cancellations, postponements, player movements — and now, college football just got weird.

The storylines are coming too fast and are just too broad to get into all of them at once. So, for now, we’ll explore this one:

A super conference?

According to sports talk radio host Dan Patrick, who cited an unnamed source, the Southeastern Conference is “reaching out” to the Big 12 and ACC to form a “super conference” for 2020.

DP was told an hour ago that the Big 10 and Pac 12 will cancel their football seasons tomorrow... The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence.. And the SEC is trying to get teams to join them for a season.

Watch live: https://t.co/sMaeXQkLfl pic.twitter.com/oSUNGMTEqw

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 10, 2020

“The Big Ten and Pac-12 will cancel their football seasons tomorrow (Tuesday),” Patrick said as he read a message from his source. “The ACC and Big 12 are on the fence. The SEC is trying to get a delay to have teams join them. The SEC is looking at exclusive TV contracts. They’re trying to buy time to see if the ACC or Big 12 will go along with them.”

An article Monday morning in the Detroit Free Press reported the same.

Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes also reported a similar showdown:

Power 5 AD just texted me: “It’s looking more and more like it’s Big Ten and Pac-12 vs. SEC, ACC and Big 12."

— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) August 10, 2020

Patrick reported on his Monday show that the Big Ten presidents voted 12-2 for canceling the upcoming season — a decision that could have far-reaching impact beyond just lost revenue.

According to Dan's source, 12 of the 14 Presidents from the Big 10 have voted against having a Fall College Football season. Iowa and Nebraska were the two that have been pushing to play.

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 10, 2020

Among college football players who joined the #WeWantToPlay movement on social media, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence — the highest-profile student-athlete in the nation — said canceling the season and sending players home would put them at greater risk for contracting COVID-19 than keeping them on campus in a controlled environment with medical professionals and constant testing and contact tracing protocols.

Players from around the nation have spoken out about wanting to have a 2020 season.

The Big Ten’s vote, Patrick said, included dissension from Nebraska and Iowa — two college football programs that would no doubt be welcomed as candidates to either temporarily join the 10-team Big 12 or even fall in with the super conference movement.

It stands to reason that conference affiliations and long-term contracts — at least in the short term — are being closely examined for their substance in the face of a pandemic.

Depending on how presidents in other conferences vote, college football could have a starkly different look if a 2020 season eventually does play out.

“The SEC is trying to see if they can pick off some of these schools and see if they want to join them,” Patrick said. “If you can get Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 and they’re going to join you in the SEC, you’ve got a super conference.

“Would I be surprised if we had SEC football maybe a couple of different outliers there? No. But I do these these other conference are going to close up shop here.”

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