Spring College Football Season Increasing in Likelihood Following Ivy League Reports

According to numerous reports, the Ivy League is expected to announce on Wednesday that they will move all Fall Sports, including football, to the spring — a decision that would send ripples across the College Football world.

The decision from the 8 highly prestigious academic institutions could cause a chain reaction across the College Football landscape. In fact, there is a growing sense of worry surrounding the Ivy League’s decision across the College Football community, as many fear that it could set the stage for other smaller conferences to follow in their footsteps.

It still remains unclear how the Ivy League’s bold decision will impact major conferences such as the SEC, but Sports Illustrated was able to speak with the conference’s commissioner, Greg Sankey, in a recent interview with Ross Dellenger. “It’s certainly not comfortable to see what’s going on around us,” said Sankey on July 1st. “When I’ve said we’re looking at contingencies, (a spring season) has always been one of those elements of 18-20 possibilities.”

“You have to think about, ‘What will you know in January that will be different?,’” the SEC Commissioner continued. “It’s been difficult to predict. We have to be careful in our decision making. Even amidst the concerning data now, we want to make sure we take care of our young people first and then we’ll see what happens through July to make decisions.”

Sankey would later reiterate that no date has been set for a potential decision regarding the season. All of this news comes as College Football officials are facing increased pressure from Washington, as multiple U.S. Senators spoke out on how the officials were handling the COVID-19 Pandemic during a recent committee hearing.

“The NCAA should step in and provide a nationwide framework,” stated Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada. Another prominent Senator, Richard Blumenthal, also grilled College Football officials during the hearing. The Democrat from Connecticut was upset that some athletic departments, such as Ohio State, refused to release the number of positive cases that they had after testing — and urged officials to require all universities be fully transparent with the public during the process.

As it stands right now, the College Football season will begin on August 29th, when smaller schools and a few larger schools will start one of the most unusual years the College Football world has ever seen. As for the University of Tennessee, their season is currently expected to begin on September 5th, when the Vols will meet the Charlotte 49ers in Neyland Stadium — they will then head west of the Mississippi River to take on the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman on the 12th. Until the SEC officially makes a decision, fans across the southern region of the United States will simply be forced to wait — hopefully their decision will be made sooner rather than later, with a mid-July timeline currently being expected.