ESPN reporter shares insight into the challenges facing college administrators trying to start the CFB season on time
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Without a doubt, there are many layers to the issue of starting the college football season that must be tackled in order for it to be played on time.
The first hurdle is the reopening of campuses across the country. While that seems to be the plan for many colleges by the end of the summer, those plans are all subject to change due to the coronavirus.
One topic being discussed now is leagues playing a season of conference-only games if necessary.
During a recent appearance on ESPN morning show “Get Up,” college football reporter Heather Dinich shared insight into the discussions she has been having with college administrators around the nation.
“I’m hearing a lot because the conference commissioners I speak to on a regular basis these days, they’re the ones with the power to try and control the opening [of the season], but even they recognize that while they want to do this in a unified fashion, it might not happen,” Dinich said on the show. “I asked SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey recently if he would be willing to have his conference play if other conferences can’t, he said he might not be able to make that decision anytime soon. But he knows he’s going to have to.
“The other thing is, I talked to TCU Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati yesterday and he said that while it’s an ambitious goal to reopen simultaneously, he said it’s probably not realistic, because it’s not just state by state differences, it’s also within conferences. I mean, could you guys imagine if Ohio State could practice and Michigan couldn’t or Alabama could practice and LSU couldn’t? I mean that would go over pretty well in the SEC, right?”
That’s a great point that must be considered because if just one school is put at a disadvantage this season, it will very interesting to see how that affects an entire conference — not to mention the fans of that particular school.
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
