Will There Be a 2020 Football Season?

Chances of a 2020 season?

  • Full 12 Game Schedule

    Votes: 20 36.4%
  • Shortened Season

    Votes: 13 23.6%
  • No Games Played

    Votes: 22 40.0%

  • Total voters
    55
  • Poll closed .
That's what we're doing on our campus, classes will start August 10th and end before Thanksgiving, with no fall break. They're worried about a second wave in winter, and want to get the semester over with before then.


A second wave implies the end of the first. 

 
I've thought about this a lot. Seems like the students will be on campus and sharing space with each other anyway. Why not just open the stadium to students this season and let them sit wherever. They are generally a low risk group as it is. I think it would be cool for the athletes and students, it'd really hammer home the point this is their university and their team. I guess financially it would be dumb, but it would be awesome to see the kids have fun with it, do banners, and themes - and just go support their fellow classmates in a tough time. 
This and your other suggestions gets a trophy from me. Unfortunately collegiate sports is in the service of the almighty dollar and barely has any relationship to education or the idea of student athletes anymore. It’s no more than big business and if they can’t make obscene amounts of money, it won’t happen. I really don’t like the direction things are headed with the adoption of NIL etc., even if the old system was not completely fair in sharing the revenue. Within a few short years CFB will be no more than another professional sports league. I guess I’ll find out if it still interests me after I get used to it.

Sorry, I rambled a bit there, but it sure would be cool if they did just open it up for fellow students and let em have run of the joint for a season. But I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to maximize revenue for every possible square foot of space. Pure capitalism would suggest they will increase ticket prices until the allowed capacity is arrived at. The students have already been relegated to seating that is barely acceptable for visiting fans.

 
A proposal for this season to help minimize the financial losses and reduce the risks of a second wave killing this season by fall:

Move all the November Big Ten games to August.  This keeps scheduling issues to intra conference only. 

Start practices right away - NCAA rules be damned.  

Replace any non-conference games that opponents decline to play with JV games with conference teams not on the regular schedule already.  These dont count in the conference race but enable teams to play games for revenue and “practice” benefits with only non-seniors below the two deep level. 

The JV games can be held on weekdays scattered in to Aug / Sept months.  Increasing total games by 5 gives more ticket revenue to help recover the reduced seating capacity due to social distancing rules.  

Post season changes if need be by Nov could include only the 4 team playoff and grant one post season game to all NCAA schools without regard to record to be held at sites TBD as negotiated.  

The second wave if its flu-like will commence by late fall or early winter.  

 
There is going to be football. There was always going to be football.  It has nothing to do with football for football's sake and everything to do with the potential trashing of every affected market when the economy is already hot garbage.

 
When most everybody else is practicing Michigan will join in or have a public relations / transfer disaster.   Lets recruit Michigan hard!    lol

 
I agree football will start, no doubt of that. What would be the most monumental buzz kill would be if we get a month in, have some non conference games, one B1G game and then things go south and they have to shut it down because of team outbreaks everywhere.

But hey, maybe in that scenario Nebraska can go undefeated again.

 
I agree football will start, no doubt of that. What would be the most monumental buzz kill would be if we get a month in, have some non conference games, one B1G game and then things go south and they have to shut it down because of team outbreaks everywhere.

But hey, maybe in that scenario Nebraska can go undefeated again.
Yes- then claim a national title out of default.

 
I agree football will start, no doubt of that. What would be the most monumental buzz kill would be if we get a month in, have some non conference games, one B1G game and then things go south and they have to shut it down because of team outbreaks everywhere.
It will especially be a buzz kill if a few of the players or staff from those team outbreaks become seriously ill.  What if a player or coach dies or becomes permanently disabled because of COVID?  How will we feel then?  Talk about a black eye for the sport.  A preventable death caused by irresponsible behavior during a pandemic fueled by $$$$$.   Let the lawsuits begin.  I wonder if the conferences are anticipating this as sort of a "worst case scenario" and have been pooling a  behind the scenes litigation "slush fund".  It wouldn't be a bad idea.  I know if I where a juror for an sport that I couldn't care less about (football fans aren't getting on those hypothetical juries) and it was presented how much $$ the NCAA, X Conference and Y University bring in annually and the victim got 0$ (ok a scholarship, but peanuts compared to the defendants), I'd be tempted to add a couple zero's to whatever the litigation amount was requested by the plaintiff.  If nothing else, just to send a message.

I know it's not fun to talk about this and other topics such as CTE, but it doesn't mean they go away.  It's just another 900 lb gorilla in the room.  

Thoughts?

 
It will especially be a buzz kill if a few of the players or staff from those team outbreaks become seriously ill.  What if a player or coach dies or becomes permanently disabled because of COVID?  How will we feel then?  Talk about a black eye for the sport.  A preventable death caused by irresponsible behavior during a pandemic fueled by $$$$$.   Let the lawsuits begin.  I wonder if the conferences are anticipating this as sort of a "worst case scenario" and have been pooling a  behind the scenes litigation "slush fund".  It wouldn't be a bad idea.  I know if I where a juror for an sport that I couldn't care less about (football fans aren't getting on those hypothetical juries) and it was presented how much $$ the NCAA, X Conference and Y University bring in annually and the victim got 0$ (ok a scholarship, but peanuts compared to the defendants), I'd be tempted to add a couple zero's to whatever the litigation amount was requested by the plaintiff.  If nothing else, just to send a message.

I know it's not fun to talk about this and other topics such as CTE, but it doesn't mean they go away.  It's just another 900 lb gorilla in the room.  

Thoughts?
I hear ya. Those are tough questions. I suspect the SEC will go forward no questions asked and the rest will feel pressured to follow.  I am not saying it is the smartest thing to do, just what I believe will happen.  Hopefully they are as diligent as they can be about testing and quarantines.  I suspect many view not playing as just as bad as having that big black eye you speak of.

 
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It will be shocking only if we dont see quite a few outbreaks of virus around the hundreds of colleges across the nation.  

In my opinion, the colleges need to

tell the public their specific plans for life on campus and in the stadium with the virus.  Masks seems likely to be mandatory but 6 feet apart is unworkable in many college spaces (classrooms, dorms, dining, etc). 

There needs to upfront declarations of response protocols for campus infections. Close down bldgs?  Close dorms? Close entire school as before?   

Outbreaks are likely.  No sense in opening if closing is the response for the inevitable cases to come.  

On other hand, if the plan is a space or bldg by bldg approach with quarantine on campus at designated sites , students must know surely before enrolling.  

 
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