Kirk Herbstreit upset many in the college football community in late March when he publicly stated that he would be “shocked” if college and NFL seasons were played in 2020. Almost four months later, Herbstreit sounds more optimistic that a 2020 college football season will happen.

“In about two weeks is when I think they’ll have to get to a deadline. By the end of July or early August, as much as they’re trying to push this thing down the road, they have to make the decision. If they say ‘hey guys, it’s too dangerous and there are too many risks. We can’t play college football this fall,’ … I would be surprised if they canceled (the season),” Herbstreit said Friday on “SportsCenter,” per 247Sports.

The ESPN broadcaster does think the start of the season could be delayed.

“I think they would keep postponing, keep pushing and hoping that at some point, the data starts to come down,” Herbstreit said during his appearance. “Because as you know, the data, it just about seems almost every day, is higher and higher.”

While Herbstreit sounds more optimistic than he did in March, he acknowledged that his optimism is lower now than it was in May-June.

“I think they’re holding on as long as they can, hoping that those numbers start to decline and go back to where we were 5-7 weeks ago. But I think a lot of us were optimistic at that point. A lot of us were optimistic, and then all of a sudden in the past four weeks, it’s just gone in a different direction.”

He also acknowledged that administrators will be concerned about the optics of the situation.

“I think one of the biggest issues they could have going forward and trying to play — if the numbers keep going (that way) — is the overall optics. It’s just not a good look necessarily when every time you turn on TV you see the record-setting numbers and you go ‘oh, let’s go play college football.’ The optics aren’t good.”