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Paul Finebaum believes college football could be trending toward delaying the start of the season
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After several weeks of promising updates, SEC Network host Paul Finebaum doesn’t like what he’s seen following the return of players to campuses across the country.
Getting players back on campus was one of the first big hurdles that had to be overcome in order for the upcoming college football season to be played but following several positive COVID-19 tests have begun to show up all across campuses across the country, some have become pessimistic that the college football season can be played in full this fall.
During his most recent appearance on ESPN morning show “Get Up” on Friday, Finebaum was asked to share his thoughts on the likelihood that the upcoming college football season starts on time. His response was less than encouraging.
“College football is just an absolute hot mess right now. I mean, you have so many different views and really no leader – as has been pointed out many many times,” Finebaum responded. “Greg Sankey, the SEC Commissioner, joined us last night on our program and he said that conference alone has between 15 and 20 contingency plans. I mean, I don’t know where you come up with all those. But they refuse to admit that this is going to be an insurmountable challenge.
“I think what Laura said is really where you have to keep your eye on, by now we thought we would know everything. We don’t know anything. And I think we’re now pointing toward mid-July for the next big decision and I think many people in college football privately, nobody publicly is saying this, but privately are saying that the likelihood of the season being delayed is very good.”
The SEC Network host was also asked to compare the NBA’s restart to college football’s pending restart and if both sports are “too big to fail” upon their return to action.
“Absolutely, but the big difference – there’s no bubble in college football, there’s no commissioner,” Finebaum answered. “You have states where you could, like Arizona and Texas, that could stop the train very quickly. It is too big to fail, but right now, many people would probably bet it is going to fail.”
While things may seem grim at this moment, it’s a good time to note we still have well over two months before the college football season is set to start. The wild swings of pessimism and optimism in regards to the upcoming college football season this offseason have been reminiscent of a roller coaster and there’s plenty of time before things can swing back the other way.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
