Randy Smith: College Football Powers Face Tough Decision

I've been hearing a lot lately about depression becoming a very real factor to deal with as we have entered the sixth month of fighting the Coronavirus, especially those who have at least tried to social distance and do what the medical experts have told us to do. However, if college football disappears completely, the number of depressed people will reach an unfathomable number by the end of the calendar year.

Commissioners from the Power 5 Conferences called an emergency meeting on Sunday night and, even though no official decision was made, it appears to be inevitable that there will be no football played on the collegiate level this fall. There is another meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening. If the season is postponed, plans are to play a schedule in the spring, when hopefully Covid-19 will be under control. If that happens, we'll have every sport going on at once, including the spring sports that were forced to cancel the 2020 schedules a few months ago. In other words, it will become a very real nightmare for college athletic departments to deal with.

Leading the way is the Big Ten, which seems to be ready to "pull the plug" so to speak on the fall season, but I'm sure they wanted to test the waters with the other four major conferences before they reach a decision. If the Big Ten calls things off, the ACC, Big 12, Pac-10 and the SEC will more likely than not follow suit.  As one Power 5 coach told ESPN, "Nobody wanted to be the first to do it and now nobody wants to be the last." 

Last week, the Mid-American Conference became the first FBS league to cancel fall sports, which was a very tough but monumental decision. On the FCS level, there are only four leagues remaining that haven't postponed fall sports yet. The Southern, Ohio Valley, Big South and Southland conferences still have plans to play this fall, but with no FCS playoffs on the table, what would the season look like? 

A group of big-name players in college football is speaking out about their desires to play this fall, including Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Not a single person involved wants to cancel football but there may not be any other choice.

Is it about money? Of course it is. Every school that doesn't play football this fall will suffer a tremendous financial hardship. That is a definite fact. It's also a fact that the United States of America has been brought to its knees by Covid-19 like nothing has ever done before. Please try to remember that before criticizing any decision that's made this week about football.