College football fans are going to appreciate these comments.

The way Greg McElroy tells it, college football simply has to be played in the fall.

His rationale for his comments? If football isn’t played, athletic programs won’t be able to operate.

The ESPN analyst recently joined ESPN radio show “Golic and Wingo” to share his thoughts on the importance that football has on every college sport.

“Football has to be played. Literally. It has to be played,” McElroy said on the show. “So they are going to play it come hell or high water, it’s going to happen. It’s just, we’re not sure exactly when it’s going to happen, because if it’s not, college athletics will literally implode.

“Football programs make up an account for around 80% of the revenue of the vast majority of these schools. And television revenue is one thing, but for some of these schools in the Group of 5, the MAC and the Mountain West and the American Athletic Conference, even though they’re essentially the Power 6, they rely so heavily on that gate revenue, it would be really really difficult for them to put forth, other programs, and to support other varsity sports and to provide 200 scholarships annually.”

Thoughts on McElroy’s comments?