It’s been close to 2 weeks since my post about the ACC’s schedule. First, apologies for not being quicker in the schedule series. A lot has happened since then in…I was about to say in the world of college football, but we all know it’s broader than that. This post is outside of the series which I will finish up in some form – see the ask at the bottom of this one to figure out how best to do that.
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The Ivy and Patriot Leagues of the FCS have cancelled all fall sports. The Big 10, ACC, and Pac-12 (who has a commissioner with COVID) have announced conference only games – granted with an expanded 10-game season. The Big 12 says they are waiting until the end of July to decide and the SEC has expressed deep concern over football this season. Notre Dame is considering cancelling the season. Multiple teams have COVID outbreaks and most schools aren’t reporting their health status. The governor of South Carolina is considering banning football. In other sports, MLS is playing to an empty stadium with crowd noise played for the tv crowd (and you thought laugh tracks were annoying) – 2 teams dropped out of the “pre-season” tournament because of COVID. MLB, NBA, and the NHL are all trying to figure out how to play shortened seasons/playoffs in order to give fans something. The NFL is still planning to play – so far.
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It’s really easy to become frustrated by all of this. It’s really easy to feel like something is being taken away. If you’ve ever even sort of read one of my posts, you know I’m a fervent a college-football fan as there is. And, yes, I’m frustrated and feeling like the entire season is going to be gone. Yes, I feel like the over/under of number of games played by a team will be about 2 this season – if they play at all. I fear that a college player will become ill enough to endanger his career or worse. I don’t want the season to go away. I want things to be normal, just once, this year.
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Let’s take a pause. Maybe they’ll play in the spring. Maybe they won’t play at all. But, here’s the thing. As much as I love the game, in fact, BECAUSE I love the game, I’m almost hoping they don’t push it. I know we can’t live in fear. In fact, I just got back from a 2200-mile road trip to my sister’s house (yes, we wore masks and took precautions). College football is the greatest sport because of the traditions – the pageantry – the rivalries – the upsets – the crazy fans. It’s the greatest sport because we get to see kids who, in many cases, grew up with the love of their family and their coaches, talent, and the drive to work hard go to college and change their lives for the better. These guys want to compete and earn their keep. However, I do not want to be even passively guilty of putting someone like that in harm’s way simply for my benefit. That drive will make them successful in whatever life has for them, if they get a chance to pursue that life.
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If I had to guess, I’d say the season will, for the most part, move to the spring or be cancelled completely. We may have a few games early, but if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t put money on it. The Big 10 was the leader in announcing conference games only, but I have a feeling the Pac-12 (remember sick commish) will be the first to cancel or postpone to the spring. I think FCS conferences will drop out as the IVY and Patriot have done. I don’t like it, but I’m okay with it.
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A friend of mine joked with me the other day that the GCR was screwed up for this year. As it normally is, yes, he’s right. If games are played, I’ll track them even if it’s a 9-month season (it is possible the northern states will want to get September games in, if they can, so that they don’t play in the snow as much). If there are enough games, I’ll rank the teams that do play. If we get closer to the start of the season (whenever that is) and schedules change, I’ll do a quick reclass of the preseason SOS, you know, just for fun.
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And that brings me to my ask. I have 4 conferences to go, but know the planned schedule is toast. Would you like to see the final 4 as I’ve done the others or would you like to see one more in the series that gives an overall “what would have been?” Comment and let me know. I’ll follow thou bidding.
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That’s it for this somber episode. Thanks for reading and please comment. G
Realistically (and I’m almost as sad as you are), it probably has to be the “what would have been” post. Save yourself some work, because it ain’t reality anymore.
Are there any Vegas bets on how many games will be played in the fall vs. spring? If so, what’s the over/under?
Thanks, Carl. I’ll look into the over/under question. I’m sure somebody in Vegas is betting on it.
Thank you for that feedback. I’m working on the next blog now which will complete the original pre-season work. Then I’ll have another soon after about all of the changes. Then I’ll try to make sense of how the GCR will handle all of this. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!!
Informative article, just what I was looking for.
bt sport