2020 Season Is B1G Only

BigRedBuster said:
I've been trying to figure out why conferences are going to conference only schedules.  At first, it didn't make sense.  Why would a non-con game be unsafe to play but a conference game would be safe.  And, I don't think that had anything to do with the decision.

This way, if a conference wants to cancel its season or play later in the year or in the spring, they can and it doesn't affect the other conferences.  

Maybe I'm late to this realization.  But, it just occurred to me when I saw another conference not playing in the fall.
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Yes, there maybe more underlying reasons for the conference only approach.  It seems that health & safety protocols are a part of the story but financial issues are much bigger factors.  These are less apparent to the public and must be  “insider info” that may not be publicized as such.  But, just a hunch on my part.  Big Ten has crunched real numbers no doubt 

 
RedDenver said:
Except the players and coaches aren't the decision makers. The AD's and university presidents are going to be the ones to make these decisions, and they have budgets that will weight very heavily on their decisions.
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There's nothing there that I could even disagree with and I understand this.

However, we've seen multiple comments from staffs around the country commenting on safety. This is expected and understandable, just so I'm not being misunderstood. But my point is, if the staff/players had to play to get paid things would look very different. But, they don't.

 
84HuskerLaw said:
It seems that health & safety protocols are a part of the story but financial issues are much bigger factors. 
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I think this is a key point. Most Athletic Departments at large universities deal with serious coin, involving hundreds of employees, players, and support personnel.

By going conference only, it provides control over scheduling the games which is crucial to maximize flexibility for TV broadcasts. In a scenario with empty (or very low allowed attendance) stadiums, the TV money will be even more critical this season than in a normal season. 

 
84HuskerLaw said:
Yes, there maybe more underlying reasons for the conference only approach.  It seems that health & safety protocols are a part of the story but financial issues are much bigger factors.  These are less apparent to the public and must be  “insider info” that may not be publicized as such.  But, just a hunch on my part.  Big Ten has crunched real numbers no doubt 
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Safety can still be a major factor in the conference only scheduling.  Let's say the virus is really going strong in the SEC area of the country, but not going so strong in the Big Ten area of the country.  No reason why the B1G can't be playing while the SEC has to shut down.

All of this is a combination of financial and safety issues.  And....I've seen or heard people complaining that it's a bad thing that the financial side is being considered.  Meanwhile, people are complaining the local bar is being restricted in what they do because it's sad what it's doing financially to the bar.  Well.....this is no different.  There are lots of jobs that are tied to this.  Everyone wants those people working, getting paid and being able to live their lives financially secure....just like the local bar owner.

 
lots of issues pulling people in many different directions.  no ez solutions, early spring season seems impractical as well.

3-4 more weeks should tell the tale.  fingers crossed. 

 
BigRedBuster said:
Safety can still be a major factor in the conference only scheduling.  Let's say the virus is really going strong in the SEC area of the country, but not going so strong in the Big Ten area of the country.  No reason why the B1G can't be playing while the SEC has to shut down.

All of this is a combination of financial and safety issues.  And....I've seen or heard people complaining that it's a bad thing that the financial side is being considered.  Meanwhile, people are complaining the local bar is being restricted in what they do because it's sad what it's doing financially to the bar.  Well.....this is no different.  There are lots of jobs that are tied to this.  Everyone wants those people working, getting paid and being able to live their lives financially secure....just like the local bar owner.
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Yep.  It's not a binary choice - it's not a matter of "safe" and "not safe".  It's minimizing risk, which is a lot easier to do in a conference only environment.

 
RedDenver said:
Except the players and coaches aren't the decision makers. The AD's and university presidents are going to be the ones to make these decisions, and they have budgets that will weight very heavily on their decisions.
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A lot of it goes above them, even: state governors and boards of regents are calling a lot of the shots on what can & can't open.

 
My first thought.....there goes our chances at a bowl game.  Unless they lower the 6 game win line for eligibility, which I am sure they won't for not all conferences are doing this.  This easily takes two wins off our schedule and a potential third win (Cinn).  A loss of 3 wins for a team who seriously lacks depth and is struggling to keep their heads above water as it is is devastating for our bowl chances.

My second thought....The power 5 have been eyeballing this idea for some time now in getting rid of non-conference games.  Power 5 schools are tired of getting humiliated on their home field while also forking over millions of dollars.  This way the money generated by the teams all stays in-house within the conference.  As a fan, I would like the non-conference games to stay for it gives each season it's own flavor and uniqueness.  But I understand the financial side of it and how that will further the facility arms race in separating the power 5 from the rest.  As it stands now, the power 5 have been personally financing the dark horse non-power 5 teams that come in yearly to sabotage their season with an upset loss.  Maybe a middle ground would be to have ONLY 3 power five teams in your non-conference schedule each year?

 
Bledred said:
My first thought.....there goes our chances at a bowl game.  Unless they lower the 6 game win line for eligibility, which I am sure they won't for not all conferences are doing this. 
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The 6 win requirement for bowl games is based on having a winning record with a 12 game season.  Obviously that's morphed into occasionally allowing 6-7 or 5-7 in some rare situations. In the event of a 10 game season a winning season would be 5-5 or better, so if bowls happen that's the way they would look at it even if some other teams have 12 game seasons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_eligibility

 
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Bledred said:
A loss of 3 wins for a team who seriously lacks depth and is struggling to keep their heads above water as it is is devastating for our bowl chances.
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Not to be a downer here, but we do not even know if there is even going to be an actual season yet. If we do not know this, what makes anyone think there is going to be a bowl?

It appears we are using conventional wisdom in all this "planning" and "forecasting" and "predicting" when such wisdom is really out the door. We have been so conditioned to think in a certain way that we have failed to think about how all this has changed the entire landscape of college football.

There are too many questions still out there and what we think is A = B then B = C is really this: 5x - pi + inverse square root of standard deviation of y coupled by the integer of 9 cos x cosine of tangent B/hypotenuse, then factor your mortgage payments plus your alimony and child support payments less your average net income from 10 years ago and predicted income rate of return on a margin call during a bull market minus all the loose change in your sofa then factor in the Warren Commission findings.

And if you said "what?" this is exactly how you have to approach this season. It is said that some conferences have up to 20 contingency plans. In fact my math is much clearer than the current word salads being put out by "officials." 

The point is this: there are way too many variables out there that have yet to be solved. We could have a record of

2-0 before the season is called and the fourth game, when we are playing Doane, may be called at halftime because someone sneezed in section 20 and the hazmat unit had to be called in and declared a federal disaster area. 

 
Time has come for the hard decisions to be made.   So far, the powers that be are ‘punting’ - deciding nothing definitive.  Canceling non-con games while keeping Big Ten games maybe and maybe even adding big ten games back.  This - just days before practice must begin to prepare somewhat normally for real football - then stopping said practices - before they’re even announced - from positive tests from a number of players, coaches, staff others - after following ‘protocols’ developed based on the best guess responses from the so-called experts - some with great credentials but sketchy track records.   The experts havent been very accurate on anything yet but the media may has well be reporting on the impending shortage of cemetery plots, body bags, caskets, crematorium fuel supplies, etc to hear the 24-7 news blather.  

Nobody has the leadership to step up and say - Lets play ball! or Lets go home and cry and hide until next year.   NCAA. ?   Nope.    Big Ten ?  Nope.   Democrat Governors?   Nope.   Republican Governors?  Nope.  Dr Fauci?   Nope.   

There is nothing to fear in all this but fear itself really - once you come to the realization that the natural world includes things like viruses which can infect humans and some may get sick and some possibly die.   And the fact that the country is gripped by fear to the point of inability to function is the truly scary part.  

Lets all hope that the coming flu season which annually kills 45-70 thousand people doesnt become the next collective panic attack.  Or God forbid someone dies from choking on a slice of Val’s pizza while Adrian scores a TD.  They will have to evacuate the stadium and cease all concessions to protect the public.  Or at least stop all future TD plays.  

Life has risk.  Period.  

Time to start living before we waste more of the limited time we all have to enjoy life.  

 
84HuskerLaw said:
Time has come for the hard decisions to be made.   So far, the powers that be are ‘punting’ - deciding nothing definitive.  Canceling non-con games while keeping Big Ten games maybe and maybe even adding big ten games back.  This - just days before practice must begin to prepare somewhat normally for real football - then stopping said practices - before they’re even announced - from positive tests from a number of players, coaches, staff others - after following ‘protocols’ developed based on the best guess responses from the so-called experts - some with great credentials but sketchy track records.   The experts havent been very accurate on anything yet but the media may has well be reporting on the impending shortage of cemetery plots, body bags, caskets, crematorium fuel supplies, etc to hear the 24-7 news blather.  

Nobody has the leadership to step up and say - Lets play ball! or Lets go home and cry and hide until next year.   NCAA. ?   Nope.    Big Ten ?  Nope.   Democrat Governors?   Nope.   Republican Governors?  Nope.  Dr Fauci?   Nope.   

There is nothing to fear in all this but fear itself really - once you come to the realization that the natural world includes things like viruses which can infect humans and some may get sick and some possibly die.   And the fact that the country is gripped by fear to the point of inability to function is the truly scary part.  

Lets all hope that the coming flu season which annually kills 45-70 thousand people doesnt become the next collective panic attack.  Or God forbid someone dies from choking on a slice of Val’s pizza while Adrian scores a TD.  They will have to evacuate the stadium and cease all concessions to protect the public.  Or at least stop all future TD plays.  

Life has risk.  Period.  

Time to start living before we waste more of the limited time we all have to enjoy life.  
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It's not leadership.  It's timing.  Right now we can't do it, but if people would pull their heads out of their butts and were responsible with masking wearing and social distancing, things would change quickly.  But we have those who aren't mature enough to do it and that's why we are surging again.  Also, we're talking about college football here.  A kids game played by young men who aren't even paid.  Some perspective would be good here.  

 
southernoregonhusker said:
It's not leadership.  It's timing.  Right now we can't do it, but if people would pull their heads out of their butts and were responsible with masking wearing and social distancing, things would change quickly.  But we have those who aren't mature enough to do it and that's why we are surging again.  Also, we're talking about college football here.  A kids game played by young men who aren't even paid.  Some perspective would be good here.  
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If only it were that simple.  They cant decide on schools, bars, churches, manufacturing, stores, malls, beaches, pools, picnics, playgrounds, etc etc.  Now NY state is blocking interstate travel.  

Its not just masks or 6’ spacing for some people some places.  

Four weeks until school is supposed to start for my grandson in a county with not one case ever!   

Somebody needs to decide something and proceed.  The virus is a fact of life, until a good vaccine is available.    If shutdowns are the only way - so be it.  The public can buy all the businesses they have destroyed.  

 
The more I think about this issue (and that's all I seem to do lately by the mere nature of what I do for a living), we need to think about asking different questions. So here are two I would like this august group of individuals to think about and respond to:

1. why SHOULD there be a college football season for fall 2020 given what we know thus far?

2. why should there NOT be a college football season for fall 2020 given what we know thus far? 

 
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