The Big 12 is among the conferences that will allow players to return to campus for voluntary workouts next month.

It looks more like the 2020 college football season will happen and will start on time, but Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said it would be foolish to think everything will go perfectly smoothly.

In a candid conversation on CBS Sports HQ, Bowlsby said he does anticipate some bumps along the way, but added that the conference will try to be as prepared as possible:

“I expect we will have some outbreaks during the course of the school year on campuses and within athletics departments,” Bowlsby said. “We’ve been told to expect a bumpy road, so that’s what we’re preparing. I don’t think much of hope as a strategy, but we hope things will go smoothly and prepare as if they won’t be.”

Bowlsby added that there could be some disruptions, but said the Big 12 will do everything it can to limit the chances players or anyone associated with the sport get sick:

“We aren’t going to have the benefit of making lots of plans well in advance,” Bowlsby said. “We’re trying to get back to campus and workouts and some semblance of normalcy. Beyond that, we have a 12-game schedule. We start on Labor Day weekend and we’ll have to play it by ear. We don’t want to put anybody at risk from a health standpoint. We need to go through this and recognize that we’re dealing with mostly young, healthy athletes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be transmitting the disease.

“We’re going to have some difficulties during the course of the year, and I fully expect we’ll have some disruptions. We are going to do everything we can to minimize the likelihood of those things happening and to optimize the disinfectant process that we have in our weight rooms, locker rooms and training rooms. And we’ll practice good social distancing. It will be somewhat unique to individual institutions. This has always been managed by governors and public health officials and, to some extent, mayors. Soon it will be in the hands of university presidents and chancellors and then athletic directors.”

These are some candid thoughts from the Big 12 commissioner. Hopefully, things go as smoothly as possible as athletes return next month.