Pac-12 going to a 10-game is most likely scenario for fall college football

The end of July is sure to be an interesting one for the fans of Pac-12 football.

After announcing on July 10 that the Pac-12 would go to a conference-only schedule for the upcoming regular season, commissioner Larry Scott announced that the new schedules are expected to be out no later than July 31.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports continues to be our number one priority,” Scott said in a statement. “Our decisions have and will be guided by science and data, and based upon the trends and indicators over the past days, it has become clear that we need to provide ourselves with maximum flexibility to schedule, and to delay any movement to the next phase of return-to-play activities.”

While not an ideal scenario for the Utes considering it means that the 2020 version of the Holy War with hated-rival BYU will not be happening, it's one that the Utes were willing to accept if it meant getting a 2020 college football season in.

"We know it is particularly difficult to miss the rivalry matchups with BYU in these sports, and we look forward to continuing those as soon as we are able. These are truly unprecedented times, and we are working diligently to determine appropriate solutions while prioritizing the health and safety of everyone involved," said Mark Harlan, Utah's Director of Athletics. "Our conference and university leadership has provided great support and direction, informed by leading health experts and data. We will work with our colleagues at each of the non-conference institutions impacted by today's decision to reschedule those contests, and we will provide more information about our schedules and our home events when they become available."

Now reports are beginning to surface, first broke by Steve Bartle of 247sports, that the Pac-12 is most likely considering a 10-game regular season schedule.

What that means is that each team would add one game against another conference member throughout the regular season. Each Pac-12 team already plays nine conference games, five of which come against their division foes and four more against teams from the opposing division. A conference championship game will then take place at the conclusion of the season as per the norm.

According to Tracy Pierson of Bruin Report Online, UCLA's 247sports page...

"The proposed 10-game, conference-only plan would kick off Sept. 12th, delaying the start of each program's season 1-2 weeks to adapt to coronavirus complications. The delayed start of the season to Sept. 12th would also dictate that the start of fall camp be pushed back to Aug. 14th," Pierson said. "The season would also have a couple other wrinkles. Two byes would be built in; most teams have one bye in their schedule, but another would be created. Also, each team would have three open dates on the back end, to accommodate any games that needed to be rescheduled."

If the season is set to begin on Sept. 12, it means that Utah is set to begin its new season against Pac-12 champion Oregon in a rematch of last season's conference championship game.

This was very big news as the Ducks were one of two teams (along with Stanford), that Utah was expected to miss this season. But with the ever-changing landscape of college football, and if there is even going to be a season, it appears that fireworks could be happening to kick it off as that would be the season-opener for both squads.

The Utes were set to host Montana State while Oregon was originally set to battle Ohio State that weekend.

It's unknown if Utah would then keep the rest of its originally planned schedule, but it seems that a complete rebuild of the Pac-12 schedule for all teams is most likely to happen.

Now all of this is contingent on having a season this fall. But if it were to actually take place, get ready for fireworks at Rice-Eccles stadium on Sept. 12.

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