Lincoln Riley on navigating a surge of COVID-19 cancellations: "Everybody needs to do the best they can to play games"
There's no escaping the omnipresent threat of COVID-19, and as the nation witnesses another widespread spike in cases, the world of college football continues to feel its impact.
No. 5 Texas A&M has already postponed its upcoming game against Ole Miss, the second straight week that the Aggies haven't been able to play due to concerns about the virus. No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 12 Georgia are among a slew of other programs that had to cancel contests last weekend.
With the virus having prompted cancellation or postponement of nearly six dozen FBS games thus far in 2020, a new conversation now arises. Should the NCAA push back bowl season to allow time for teams to make up regular-season games?
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley isn't a fan of that concept.
"I think we've got a schedule," Riley remarked. "I think everybody needs to do the best they can to play games. Hopefully everybody is canceling these games with the right intentions, and hopefully all of us play as many as we can and then somebody's gonna have to figure out in the end who needs to try to play in the Playoff, and we go do it."
There's no easy way out for the CFP selection committee, who face an absurd number of new variables in the calculus. How reliably can Ohio State be evaluated if the Buckeyes have only played seven games at season's end? How would a hypothetical 7-0 Wisconsin team stack up against a 7-1 Texas A&M team, or a 10-0 BYU team? What if Liberty finishes the season 11-0, but has to contend with a 9-2 Oklahoma squad that would, in theory, have won its final eight games and a Big 12 championship?
Only one thing is certain at the moment: any way you slice it, there's going to be mass controversy over the four-team playoff field.
But should the NCAA make the decision to postpone the playoff to late January or even February, Riley cited a slippery slope that such a decision could effect.
"I think if you do that, where's the end?" Riley pointed out. "I think you've gotta draw the line somewhere and play as many of these as we can and keep it on a schedule."
The Sooners' 36-year-old head coach was asked point-blank if he believed the college football season will finish at all, let alone finish as scheduled. Though he didn't offer a definitive answer either way, Riley maintained a tone of optimism, but conceded that the uptick in coronavirus numbers isn't an encouraging sign.
"I mean, would any of us be shocked right now if it got shut down? No," he admitted. "I mean, not with all we've had to deal with over the past whatever it's been, nine months, 10 months, so I sure hope we can, but I would say it's probably a little bit more in jeopardy I would imagine than it was a month ago."
Oklahoma hasn't yet seen a game postponed or cancelled because of COVID-19, though their home dates with Missouri State and Kansas State were very much in limbo until mere hours before kickoff. For the most part, it's the Big Ten and the SEC that have encountered the greatest difficulty in keeping games on the schedule. Riley offered praise to the Big 12 for its handling of the circumstances.
"Our conference has done about as good a job as anybody of being able to stay mostly on schedule, especially here as of late," he said.
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