Here Goes: What I Think College Football Will Look Like This Fall at Oklahoma State

Everybody else is giving their opinions on what the football season will look like. I've been an active part of college football in one way or another for 42-years and as a member of the media for 37-years. I have as much to lend to taking a shot as this as just about anybody.

This is almost like writing a science fiction novel, after all we are in the midst of dealing with a novel virus that scientists tell us is mutating and changing and likely to change even more. It has changed since it was first discovered in the Wuhan, China. We know that many of the tactics we've used to combat it from social distancing to isolation has worked. However, those tactics if still in place won't allow for college football. We are opening up as a society some in Oklahoma with dentists back practicing, you can get your hair cut or styled, and elective surgeries are starting to take place. 

All of those situations take precedence over college football. I know that. However, we can all agree that we need our college football going into the fall. 

It is starting to look like we have a pretty good chance of it. The NBA seems to be moving toward a possible resumption or conclusion of their season. It is leaking out that Major League Baseball is contemplating a plan to have a season that could start just before, during, or after the Fourth of July. 

Now, in the past week we've seen and heard from a variety of universities that they will soon be re-opening their campuses and intend to have classes on campus for the fall semester, if not before in some cases. Oklahoma State came out with an announcement on line on Friday.

So, now what does the football season look like and when does preparation start?

The NCAA Medical Advisory Committee has suggested that it will take a six-week period for athletes to prepare and be ready to start a football season. Following those guidelines, Oklahoma State and schools like them in Division I football will need to have athlete back on campus sometime close to or after the Fourth of July. The question is, will that be doable? It could be. I think you will have athletes for football back between that time and the first of August. That means the season could begin somewhere between on time and the first of October. 

According to Dr. Brian Hainline, the lead of the NCAA Medical Advisory Committee, testing is the key and at the fore front of having athletes gathered and kept together. Then also having teams compete against each other.

"What we really discussed in some detail was: What is it going to take to get sport back? And I will tell you that 80% of the conversation centered around testing,'' Hainline said after the advisory board met and in an interview with The Associated Press. ''And more specifically, what happens in contact sports like basketball or football, when one of the players tests positive. Does that mean quarantine? Does that mean we do very regular testing?

"And I think that's the granular type of detail that we still don't have universal agreement for two reasons: One is we don't have all of the ready-made, point-of-care tests; and No. 2, the serology tests that are out there to date, they just aren't reliable.''

If football begins on time, I think you will see a complete 12-game regular season. It it starts late, then I would predict a 10-game season with one non conference game or a nine-game season consisting of the Big 12 Conference schedule. 

Again, this is all just predicting based on what I have heard, read, and consumed regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, projections, and the information I hear from people within the Big 12 and the Oklahoma State community. 

I believe you will have limited fans in the stadium. I know that you will have network television and network radio for both participating teams because the schools want to receive the rights fee money from both television and radio.

After that, I could see a limited number of media both on the field and in the press box as you will still be talking about social distancing and doing the most possible to keep people safe especially the players, coaches, and necessary support staff. Those groups and anybody, including game officials, that will be in contact with them will have to be tested and that will be easy to do as testing is becoming much easier. All teams (players, coaches, support staff, and game officials) will have to be tested weekly, if not more often.

At Boone Pickens Stadium, I think you will see the band, spread out more; some spirit groups, Pistol Pete, and Bullet; and some fans in the stadium, maybe a 35-405 percent capacity. I could see limited numbers in the suites and club levels and then some fans, including family and friends of players on both teams spaced out in the stadium.  

It will be different. There is no doubt about that. It will provide the attraction for the television and radio audiences and football will be celebrated. 

I know there is concern about the virus having a rebound effect where it comes back later, maybe even mutated some. Yes, that could happen, but the hope is with the proper steps and steps taken to minimize it's entry into the stadium and spread that a football season will not only start and take place, but also be finished.