Could the college football season be split into two parts?
From starting the season late, to starting the season early, to moving the season to the spring, to just canceling the season, there have been a lot of ideas about what to do about the 2020 college football season in the time of the coronavirus epidemic.
Bob Bowlsby has added another one.
The Big 12 commissioner told Seth Davis of The Athletic that the season could possibly be split.
“I actually think we have a chance to start on time,” Bowlsby said. “Whether or not we can get the season done is another matter. When flu season starts again in November and December, you could see that ship sink in a hurry. One of the models we’re looking at is a split season where some games happen in the fall and some happen in the spring.”
During a Zoom video conference chat with the media on Monday, Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops said he was not in favor of playing games without fans in the stands.
“Obviously, I want to be there,” Stoops said. “Our staff and our players want to be there and they want the fans to be able to attend. It’s my opinion we should play football with fans in attendance.”
But Stoops also said that when he was told the season would start, despite the circumstances, his team would be ready to go.
“I’m going to do the things that I’ve been told, and that’s to go about my business and do the best we can to prepare our team to be able to play September 5,” said the coach. “That’s what we’re doing. Until somebody tells me otherwise, that’s the way I’m going to go about my business, is getting the team ready to play. If it does get pushed back, then we’ll deal with it, we’ll deal with it the best we can.”
A recent poll of athletic directors by Stadium, showed that 99 percent of FBS ADs believe that there will be a college football season. The poll showed that 75 percent believed the season will be delayed.
“We have to do everything we can to get 12 games in,” a Group of Five AD told the site.
South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner said Friday that there is the possibility that not all conferences will start at the same time. That could depend on whether certain parts of the country are ready to return safely while other parts are not. That might mean that some conferences might not play non-conference games.
“If I told you there would be football, but it’s not possible for everybody to be aligned, you’d still take football, wouldn’t you?” Tanner asked CBS Sports.
A couple of weeks back, I conducted a media poll asking will (1) the season start on time, (2) the season be delayed or (3) the season be canceled. No. 2 was the overwhelming answer.
“I think the season will be delayed, hopefully only slightly,” said Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel. They will delay it as long as possible just to make sure they can play with fans in the stadium.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 7:47 AM.
