College Football Season Teetering on Brink for Pac-12, All Power 5 teams
The move to postpone the college football season gained traction over the weekend when Power 5 commissioners discussed the possibility on Sunday of moving games to 2021 in the face of the pandemic.
Nationwide, football players — including several from the University of Washington — responded with the social media hashtag #WeWantToPlay expressing their wishes to proceed with a season, though not specifying exactly when.
All of this came amid the formation of player movements calling for enhanced pandemic protections, including enhanced medical care and scholarship and eligibility protection, and leagues such as the Mid-American Conference and Big Sky already shutting down their fall seasons.
"Let's work together to create a situation where we can play the game that all of us love," Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence tweeted. "Not divide and argue. There is a way forward ... across the country."
More meetings are planned for the coming week that could scrap the fall college football season altogether, indicating that things have reached a critical stage, multiple sources told Sports Illustrated.
Everything could be postponed in all conferences by the end of the week, another source informed SI. Unconfirmed reports indicate the Big Ten could have a decision by Monday.
The Pac-12, which was meeting with a group of protesting players threatening to sit out at the end of last week, could vote on whether it hold a season as early as Tuesday night.
It appears all of the Power 5 conferences are gauging each other's interest and pursuing a unified push for pulling the plug on the football season.
Husky sophomore quarterback Jacob Sirmon was among those tweeting their personal wishes on Sunday.
Lawrence's message about finding a common ground for playing football again was retweeted by Sirmon's cousin and UW sophomore linebacker, Jackson Sirmon, and senior cornerback Elijah Molden. Other Huskies such as junior offensive lineman Jaxson Kirkland and defensive lineman Draco Bynum weighed in, as well.
At the same time, the SEC, the most pre-imminent and successful college football conference, indicated it might be the last holdout if the fall season is put in jeopardy.
