College Football Tiptoes Into Season. So Do Bears with Trubisky.

I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that the Big Ten (and Pac-12) threw in the towel, while the ACC, Big 12 and SEC are proceeding with plans to play.

What was it that Lincoln said about A House Divided?

I guess this is just a set of separate rooms.

The ACC and Big 12 will dip the pandemic toe with their first games this week. The SEC, meanwhile, will wait until Sept. 26.

Duke at Notre Dame shapes up as the marquee game in the Midwest. It’s expected to be a tuneup for the 20-point-favorite Irish, one of many until ND plays host to Clemson on Nov. 7.

Afterward, we can all discuss the implications of that late touchdown the Irish gave up. . . to win 34-14.

In other words, not a lot of compelling contests in a college-football schedule that underwent drastic Covid-19 revisions.

And so, the not-as-long-but-still-long march to the Alabama-Clemson championship game begins.

While I am fascinated by the athletic thrills and unpredictable spills of college football, a season without the Big Ten feels like a meal lacking meat. And potatoes.

Note to self: Ask Tony Barnhart how he would cope if there was a football season without the SEC. I need the wisdom of Mr. College Football.

Maybe he would transfer his interest in whether the Dawgs can hold off the Gators with an exploration of whether the Badgers will face a serious challenge from the Gophers.

I think not, though.

SORTING OUT THE TRUBISKY-FOLES DERBY

Meanwhile, my college-football void is compounded by the fact that my interest in the NFL is at an all-time low.

It doesn’t help that I find the Bears about as compelling as the dog paddle. Unlike the frenzied variety of college schemes on both sides of the ball, there’s a growing sameness in my mind to NFL offenses and defenses. Some players do it better than others, of course. But it all just blends together to my untrained eye.

I will say this: It makes perfect sense to me that Bears coach Matt Nagy has given the ball to Mitchell Trubisky (No. 9 shown above) the starter over Nick Foles (No. 10) in their competition for the quarterback job.

The Bears will take their stellar defense and less-than-stellar offense on the road to Detroit on Sunday. Frustrated Big Ten fans are likely to get their football fix here—even if this duo is not expected to get in the way of the Packers or Vikings in the NFC North.

Trubisky has been the designated QB since the moment the Bears passed(!) on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson to take him in the 2017 NFL draft.

This way, in the (unlikely) event that Trubisky establishes himself as the Bears’ QB of the present and future, they overpay Foles to be a voyeur this year and move on.

More likely, when Trubisky leaves things to be desired and coach Matt Nagy turns to Foles, everyone will know that Trubisky has been given first-dibs and been found wanting.

If Foles had started and won the job, Trubisky would have become a very awkward lame duck. If Foles had started and been found wanting, inserting Trubisky into yet another pressure situation would. . . not be a good thing.

That said, I won’t be surprised if Foles lines up under center sooner than later.

FIRST AND SHAKY

As I write this, the Cubs are in first place. Yu Darvish (Cy Young), Ian Happ (MVP) and David Ross (manager of the year) are in the discussion for National League awards.

And if the pitching is looking shaky, they have enough accomplished young bats (Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Kyle Schwarber) to make people think they could wake up and start scoring in bunches.

The reality is, though, that the first-place lead is only 2-1/2 games over the charging Cardinals, who won three of five in their Labor Day weekend meeting at Wrigley Field.

And the Cubs are not inspiring confidence that this year will end on a high note.

Beyond Darvish and Kyle Hendricks, the starting pitching is messy. Jon Lester looks like he’s near the end of a fine career that includes indelible World Series wins with the Red Sox and the Cubs. Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood are down and out with injuries. Don’t even mention the bullpen.

And barring a big turnaround, the Cubs’ quartet of core hitters will not meet expectations.

In short, the memory of that historic and magical 2016 World Series triumph is looking farther and farther away in the rear-view mirror.

The Cubs remain a good bet to make the expanded playoffs in this strange pandemic season, where 16 teams (the top two in each division, plus two wild cards per league) will qualify for best-of-three series.

But going deep? Confidence factor very low there.

For a team with the potential to make a deep playoff run, Chicagoans will need to jump on the Red Line and head to the South Side. The White Sox ooze talent, and they have that hungry look the Cubs showed when they were ascending to a World Series championship.

In other words, the troubled times in the Windy City are not confined to the thousands of Big Ten alums missing their football.