California Gov. Newsom says Pac-12 can play — what's the hold up?

A lot has been made of the Pac-12 being the only Power 5 conference not allowing teams to play this fall, with the main reason being California/Oregon not allowing it — but apparently that's false

When the Big Ten made its big announcement on Wednesday morning about its return to college football, it left the Pac-12 conference all alone on the deserted island.

Pac-12 fans seeing the Big Ten news like: pic.twitter.com/99O6JIwJeR

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 16, 2020

Originally, both conferences announced on August 11 that they would be canceling/postponing the upcoming fall college football season — while the Big 12, ACC and SEC all elected to move forward with different schedules. 

Now with the Big Ten reversing course and preparing to play beginning the weekend of Oct. 24, the Pac-12 is left as the lone conference not playing — not where it wants to be.

A lot has been asked as to why they Pac-12 isn't playing, and multiple reasons have arisen. 

Nearly every time when asked, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has pointed out that the governments in both California and Oregon have yet to allow the resumption of college athletics.

“At this time, our universities in California and Oregon do not have approval from state or local public health officials to start contact practice,” Scott said a week ago. “We are hopeful that our new daily testing capability can help satisfy public health official approvals in California and Oregon to begin contact practice and competition. We are equally closely monitoring the devastating fires and air quality in our region at this time. We are eager for our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play this season, as soon as it can be done safely and in accordance with public health authority approvals.”

But news broke Wednesday afternoon that what Scott has been alluding to all along is actually false, according to California Governor Newsom.

Gov. Gavin Newsom just said that there is nothing keeping Pac-12 universities from playing football games in California.

"Nothing in the state guidelines denies the ability for the Pac-12 to resume,” he said. "That’s been a misrepresentation of the facts."

— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) September 16, 2020

Gavin Newsom said he spoke to Larry Scott 2 hours ago, claims nothing in state rules preventing teams from playing.

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) September 16, 2020

So what's the hold up?

While Newsom is correct in saying that state guidelines aren't permitting the teams from practicing, they are in fact permitting them from playing due to the current guidelines in place.

Right now, teams are allowed to practice but with only 12 players at once in any particular group. While possible for basketball, it's not happening for football. Having 12 players practice at once doesn't the teams any good in preparing for the upcoming college football season

Here are Gov. Newsom's full comments related to the Pac-12, which leave a lot of questions unanswered. pic.twitter.com/3V3CHrgwjX

— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) September 16, 2020

In his statement, Newsom also talked about the addition of daily testing, specifically antigen and PCR testing. Once this issue is solved, it appears Newsom would be more receptive to the idea of allowing more than 12 players together at once.

But could this issue be solved with the Pac-12's partnership Quidel Corporation, a diagnostic company with rapid COVID-19 testing that can produce results in 15 minutes? 

The short answer is yes, but the problem is that those devices won't be on Pac-12 campuses until the end of September. This leaves time for Newsom to revaluate California's position, and the Pac-12's for that matter, on the return of college football.

Pac-12 this morning pic.twitter.com/2MAvP2R1Wl

— kwade (@KwadeSays) September 16, 2020

With Newsom giving the exemption to all four colleges, what's next is getting approval from the local counties moving forward. While it's expected that Cal and Stanford will have no problem seeking approval, USC and UCLA out of L.A. County figures to be the biggest hurdle. 

If that is cleared, watch out because it could be game on.

Newsom and Scott, whether intentionally or not, are playing the blame game with one another. How this plays out, especially over the following week, will be huge in whether or not the Pac-12 suits up at the end of October with the rest of college football or not.

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