The hot debate going on with college football these days is whether or not the season will start on time this fall. Also, whether or not fans will be in attendance when games resume.

On ESPN’s “Get Up!” on Monday morning, SEC Network analysts Laura Rutledge and Marcus Spears shared their thoughts on whether football will be able to start on time with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both of them said they wouldn’t be surprised if the season is delayed, at least a little bit (via 247Sports):

“It’s so much more complicated, many because of the fact that they want to make sure everybody is safe and healthy through all of this,” Rutledge said. “And it’s not just possible to put college football in some sort of bubble as we all know. So, through that, these athletic directors, these conference commissioners, these coaches, they are having to think about the health and the safety of their players. And through talking to a lot of college coaches just over the past couple of weeks, so many have even changed their opinion about this. Some have now said if it’s not safe for the fans to be somewhere, then it’s not safe for our players to play.

“But then, as you know, there are some coaches who are saying, ‘Look, we need to find some way to play college football this season no matter what.’ So, there’s just a lot here. I think the one thing to point out is the timeline for college football begins to get very serious toward the end of May and early June. At that point, they have to make some sort of decisions. Can they come back sometime in July? Is that even possible? If they come back, are they even able to start the season on time? I think that’s the main thing. If not, I would not be surprised if we see college football pushed back.

“Guys, this is where it really gets interesting. Could you see a season that starts in November? Even a little bit later? Could there be a truncated season? These are the kinds of conversations that are going on right now. I still believe there will be a college football season in the 2020-21 school year, but I really would not be surprised to see it get delayed and that’s because of the health and safety of everybody involved.”

Spears added that it would be possible to isolate football players and the staff on campus, but he doesn’t necessarily agree with that approach:

“Yes,” Spears said. “And yes is not being insensitive to what’s going on, but if there’s a way for these college coaches and administration can isolate football players and the staff and try to figure out some way (to get practices started). Similar to what the professional ranks are doing, they are going to get college football back. Now, do I agree with it 100 percent? No. Because you still have college football players who will be around their families per se, unless you take them all to an island.

“But I’m telling you, these TV networks, what’s going on right now with these coaches and wanting to get back on the field, if there’s any way to play games without fans in the stands, they are going to figure out a way to do it.”

There’s still time to make a decision, so we’ll see what those in charge of states and conferences decide moving forward.