A JERSEY GUY: Can CFB Be Played Without Students On Campus?
The college landscape is littered with the remnants of the battle with COVID-19.
In the Big Ten, we learned that University Presidents don't necessarily communicate with their own Presidents, much less each other.
New Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren also has a communication problem.
In the SEC, the interpretation of the danger level of positive COVID-19 tests appears open to debate.
In the ACC, the trend of online classes is increasing rapidly, which has led to debates about why dorms and frat houses are deemed more safe than classrooms. That has led to another debate about why there should even be students on campus, which has led to another debate about whether you should shut down a campus to everyone but football players.
In the Big 12, Commissioner Bob Bowlsby re-issued an ominous warning, if football is shut down "it's likely'' ALL sports could be in jeopardy for the entire academic year, a message which was not greeted with enthusiasm by the NCAA home office in Indianapolis, which is on a DEFCON Level alert to save March Madness and The Final Four.
And, a new issue is emerging across the country, in six conferences and among the 76 schools who are still preparing for a football season that is now less than two weeks away from starting.
Do we really need students on campus to play college football?
Of course, we do was the universal answer given from South Bend to South Beach throughout the summer.
A deal breaker conceded even the most ardent "Let them play'' college officials.
There is a famous story told about legendary comedian W.C. Fields in the final days of his life.
Fields had no use for religion, which is why one of his close friends was stunned when he visited Fields in the hospital a few days before he passed and saw his friend reading a Bible.
""Bill,'' said the friend. "You. A Bible?''
Fields looked up and replied, "Looking for loopholes, looking for loopholes.''
Which is exactly what conference commissioners and athletic directors are working on as they figure how to ease their way around "the no students'' edict.
The first attack was on the difference between "a closed campus'' and a campus where there are no in-person classes and a paucity of students.
Online courses will be in vogue this fall and the student body on campus population is rapidly falling.
Schools in the ACC came up with a 20 percent of the student body as an acceptable compromise, with athletes folded into that number.
Still, 20 percent a is far cry from NO students on campus.
The irony of this is that the Pac-12, which along with the Big Ten made the decision to shut things down early, has competed in football with very few students on campus for years since many Pac-12 schools are on the quarter, rather than the semester system. Which means that classes don't usually start until October on some campuses, more than a month after other Pac-12 schools have played football games.
Yet, that was not even close to being a topic of discussion.
The other ironic part of what is happening is that coaches, players and administrators are going to learn that getting to the start of the season could be the EASIEST part of their season.
The logistics of playing game--especially on the road--are mind boggling, ranging from the simple question of where teams get dressed and take post-game showers to visiting hotels and places to meet and eat.
Game plans each week will be for opponents--but also for COVID-19.