NCAA officials concerned about growing pessimism regarding CFB season

It started out as a simple U.S. Senate committee hearing on student-athlete compensation, but quickly evolved into something much more pressing at this current time.

Last Wednesday, members of the U.S. Senate had a meeting regarding the 'Name, Image, Likeness' ruling and how that would effect and change college athletics if it were to be passed.

But following those questions, the hearing took a significant turn when one of the NCAA’s most prominent leaders, Ohio State president emeritus Michael Drake, started getting peppered regarding the novel coronavirus and how college football programs throughout the country are responding to the uptick in cases. Joining Drake in answering questions were SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and two others.

A majority of those in attendance believe that the NCAA needs to create a universal COVID-19 standard, which includes requiring athletic departments to disclose the number of positive virus cases among their athletes.

Drake initially fought back on this assumption, saying “That’s a HIPAA issue." In the end though, he agreed with the sentiments expressed by the committee, saying “I believe it’s appropriate for the schools to report the cases.”

Interestingly enough, Ohio State is among roughly half of the 130 FBS programs in declining to disclose their case numbers, of which Utah is as well.

At this point right now, it's extremely hard to envision the college football season beginning on time — and the Senate is now beginning to express concerns and pessimism regarding football in September.

At least five states have suspended reopening plans, and four college programs have temporarily shut down workouts because of outbreaks. At least 150 Division I players have tested positive for the virus, and that number is likely much larger according to Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Just in the last few days, at least two Power 5 football players have used Twitter to publicly question the decision from schools to return to voluntary summer workouts.

According to Sankey, a spring season is still a possibility and it remains high as one of several contingency plans that college football officials are looking at.

“When I’ve said we’re looking at contingencies, that’s 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?’," Sankey said. "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 was adamant that there is no official deadline date to determine if there would be a college football season, but that the time between now and the beginning of August are very important. The start of August is when traditional camps begin prior to the start of the season.

While Sankey is still trying to remain positive, Carter’s optimism has waned.

“On June 1, I was really optimistic about everything, but I’m less optimistic today about a normal start,” he told SI after the hearing. “We may start on time but as far as what our crowds look like. … This is going to be interesting over the next two to three weeks, because we have to put our foot on base.

“We’re into July now. It’s time to decide ‘Hey, are we going to start on time or push this thing down the road?’”

Who knows where college football officials grow from here, but having the Senate begin to question the validity of the season starting on time isn't exactly promising news for those hoping for some college football in September.

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