Official 2020 College Football Thread

[JPhillips]

A lot of conferences are cancelling, at least at the D3 level. I'm not sure how effective those cancellations are, though, because many schools, like mine, are allowing the teams to practice all Fall.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Aren’t a number of the playoff games held on campuses? If so, then why cancel those if you’re (at this point, at least,) still planning to hold regular season games? What am I missing here?

My between the lines take is that this will give the member schools cover to cancel seasons

[muns]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

So I dont know if this should go here, the kids leaving home thread, the Covid thread or the random thoughts thread but ...in a Last Chane U sort of way its football related so Im going here.

So for anyone who is wholly unfamiliar with the math matrinations that are D2 scholarships and also not up to speed on SC state lottery college funds and how this all intersects with Covid and college football and educator incompetence let me tell you a little story that frustrates me.

D2 football operates under total different rules than D1 regarding scholarships. Of course the number of ships is lower (36 as opposed to 85 in FBS) but the biggest difference is in FBS its all or nothing. There are no partials. Where as in D2 the dollar total is equivalent to 36 full rides. So what most of the schools do I've found is they rank kids from 1-100 on team in terms of their importance or favor or whatever. Then they distribute all the school money they can. Being a private school there are universal scholarships available for certain GPAs, certain affiliations, etc etc etc. Next they apply the state money the kids get, be it grants or what in SC is known as Life or Hope (different tiers of the lottery education funds based on your gps and success)
Then they "make whole" players from the top down and see who owes what as they near the bottom.
In essence you can end up with 70-80 full ride kids this way for the cost of only 36 within the legal limits.

Well...one of the requirements of the SC education lottery money is you need to maintain a 3.0 GPA and you must complete 30 hours per year to remain eligible. Important footnote it used to be 30 hours per year for the Life and 25 for Hope but they unified this to 30 across the board a few years ago.

My son's school limits football players to 12 hours during fall semester to accommodate practice and minimize class missed for game travel. The latter is actually the primary driver - this is small time football and in fact much of the campus holds their nose that they even have such a barbaic group of unwashed heathens in their presence. But I digress. The school actually limits students to no more than 18 credit hours a semester by school policy (allegedly to force students to need a 9th semester to graduate and maximize $$$) but...again for athletes in a very small school accumulating 18 hours that align with schedule can be difficult.

Luckily there is Summer I and Summer II to add additional hours. Until there isnt because Summer I and Summer II are cancelled due to Covid..and an academic advisor is behind the times and still thinks the requirement is for 25 hours and suddenly a week before class starts you have a mass of kids with little parental guidance being forced to fill out loan docs to find $3k/year to attend college that they otherwise now dont qualify for in education money because they only have 25-29 credit hours and aren't on path.

Now before anyone thinks I'm crying the blues here, I'm not. We are financially blessed that the $3k wouldn't alter life plans, and further blessed that my son carried AP hours over and still qualifies for his SCED $$$. But I did meet with the AD yesterday (at my request) and decline a portion of his scholarship to be allocated to two teamates who were otherwise packing their bags to head home.

This stuff just pisses me off. The school has paid people to advise these kids. Yes these "kids" are old enough to take personal responsibility, but they are still kids, and many from bad backgrounds. If sports is going to break the cycle and provide an escape we need a tour guide along the route to point the way. Dammit colleges get your crap together.

Sorry rant over.

Sorry to hear about your troubles CU. I was surprised at your schools set up though.

As someone who has worked at 3 small D-3 schools both in administration and athletics, at none of my schools did they pay anybody to advise kids. It was an extra job that got put onto someones plate that already had enough on it to begin with. So faculty had it put on, the tutoring staff had it put on etc. Does your school have someone that does that full time?

It was also a job of one of the coaches to check in on the kids to make sure they were alright schedule wise and if they weren't, could guide the kids in the right direction so they didnt hurt themselves. Did the AD allude to any of that when you met with him? Was shocked none of the coaches caught any of that for you, their program, and your son.

The other issue, and this raised an eye to me. When schools have kids that dont graduate on time they get penalized in various publications and rankings. They dont want kids not graduating on time as the little money they make for an extra semester is really meaningless, especially since most kids run out of financial aid after 8 semesters, which also means the typical kid has to drop out, which also affects those ratings and publications. The rankings and publications are what helps make the school money, not the extra semester.

Does any of your CC's offer 8 week courses cheap to get any of these kids back on course? Another suggestion is asking the college about Clep examinations. Those are prob 100-200 a pop but are a fast way to pick up college credits in a few days if your kid knows a lot about a particular subject and thinks he can pass a test to prove it. The college should have a catalog of things that would qualify for clep, but they dont advertise, as if you can pick up 3-4 credits for 100-200 a pop its not a good business model.

anywho thought i would try to help save you a lil bit of money if i could

[tarcone]

Missouris HS activities association gave the go ahead to High Schools that are starting out virtual only to play Fall sports. This mostly affects St Louis, KC and Springfield.

Not sure how it will work. But it is going to be an interesting Fall.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by muns

Sorry to hear about your troubles CU. I was surprised at your schools set up though.

As someone who has worked at 3 small D-3 schools both in administration and athletics, at none of my schools did they pay anybody to advise kids. It was an extra job that got put onto someones plate that already had enough on it to begin with. So faculty had it put on, the tutoring staff had it put on etc. Does your school have someone that does that full time?

It was also a job of one of the coaches to check in on the kids to make sure they were alright schedule wise and if they weren't, could guide the kids in the right direction so they didnt hurt themselves. Did the AD allude to any of that when you met with him? Was shocked none of the coaches caught any of that for you, their program, and your son.

The other issue, and this raised an eye to me. When schools have kids that dont graduate on time they get penalized in various publications and rankings. They dont want kids not graduating on time as the little money they make for an extra semester is really meaningless, especially since most kids run out of financial aid after 8 semesters, which also means the typical kid has to drop out, which also affects those ratings and publications. The rankings and publications are what helps make the school money, not the extra semester.

Does any of your CC's offer 8 week courses cheap to get any of these kids back on course? Another suggestion is asking the college about Clep examinations. Those are prob 100-200 a pop but are a fast way to pick up college credits in a few days if your kid knows a lot about a particular subject and thinks he can pass a test to prove it. The college should have a catalog of things that would qualify for clep, but they dont advertise, as if you can pick up 3-4 credits for 100-200 a pop its not a good business model.

anywho thought i would try to help save you a lil bit of money if i could

Appreciate it.
To be clear doesn't impact my son. But does hit a bunch of his friends.
And yes they have a full time academic advisor, actually football has 2 and there is a 3rd for all other sports..
Also have 5 full time S&C staff....which is unusual for a d2 school as well Ive found

[bob]

ACC schedule announced. Starts 9/12 runs through 12/5. Marquee non conference game would be GT - UCF.

Nice of ACC office to give Pitt a bye on 12/5.

[bronconick]

Clemson's Xavier Thomas plans on redshirting (hopes to play the 4 minimum) after contracting strep that had Covid complications.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sp...244771767.html

[cuervo72]

Well, it was a fun 2018, anyway.

Purdue receiver Rondale Moore bypasses 2020 season, prepares for NFL Draft

[Lathum]

Are we worried yet?

Sources: MAC Cancels Fall College Football Season - Stadium

[Ben E Lou]

The ole boys in the SEC offices are making sure that if there’s a season, the contenders are taken care of.

LSU—added Vandy and Mizzou
Bama—added Kentucky and Mizzou
UGA—added Arkansas and Miss. St.

Meanwhile....

Arkansas: added UGA and Florida
Mizzou: added Bama and LSU

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Are we worried yet?

Sources: MAC Cancels Fall College Football Season - Stadium

Prominent industry source: "I think by the end of the week the fall sports will be postponed in all conferences."

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) August 8, 2020

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Are we worried yet?

Sources: MAC Cancels Fall College Football Season - Stadium

Coastal has lost two of its four non conference games now, one of the Michigan teams in the MAC, and South Carolina. Duquesne might not play either. Kansas is the only one left unless the Big 12 cancelled that too. May just be an all Sun Belt schedule.

[Ksyrup]

Source: Big Ten presidents are meeting today. All options are on the table. There's some presidential momentum for canceling the fall football season. It's unknown if there's enough support to make that decision today.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 8, 2020

[Ksyrup]

Things seem to be moving at rapid speed right now...

Per discussions in the past few minutes, several college athletic leaders from across the country are beginning to privately agree with this quote that Pat tweeted a couple hours ago.

It's a sweeping feeling. https://t.co/xnFmQQwGun

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 8, 2020

[PilotMan]

No fall foosball for the MVFC, but possibly spring. FCS announces no playoff or championship games.

I guess the Bison are champs again.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Things seem to be moving at rapid speed right now...

Per discussions in the past few minutes, several college athletic leaders from across the country are beginning to privately agree with this quote that Pat tweeted a couple hours ago.

It's a sweeping feeling. https://t.co/xnFmQQwGun
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 8, 2020

The part of the thread between him and Tim Brando is interesting

SI

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Are we worried yet?

Sources: MAC Cancels Fall College Football Season - Stadium

There goes Toledo's best shot at winning the national championship.


Really though, what if all the the major conferences cancelled their seasons but the MAC and other minor divisions played on? Wouldn't one of those teams have to be the national champion?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

May just be an all Sun Belt schedule.

I've been expecting that to happen for the smaller conferences kinda by default honestly.

[dawgfan]

Per the discussions of athletes of this age group at risk from COVID:

https://www.king5.com/article/news/h...3-81302a81a1a6

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Really though, what if all the the major conferences cancelled their seasons but the MAC and other minor divisions played on? Wouldn't one of those teams have to be the national champion?

I'd figure the NCAA would simply cancel the championships at that point. There just wouldn't BE a champion.

[sterlingice]

Does that mean UCF can hang another banner?

SI

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'd figure the NCAA would simply cancel the championships at that point. There just wouldn't BE a champion.

Does the NCAA even give out a championship at FBS? Aren't they just not involved in that?

Take this with a grain of salt but my neighbors kid plays soccer at Illinois. They've been essentially told fall sports will be cancelled, just waiting for the official announcement.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Does the NCAA even give out a championship at FBS? Aren't they just not involved in that?

Super solid point, and I shoulda known/posted better honestly.

The better answer is probably that "only a fine toothed comb through the contracts" would provide an answer to the original question.

[ISiddiqui]

Well boys, I think we've just come up with an ironclad reason for a new NCAA Football video game - so we can sim the playoffs to get us a national champion!

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Lathum]

College football fans on Twitter are some kind of a special breed.

[albionmoonlight]

Even in these troubled and uncertain times, I feel confident that whatever the NCAA decides to do will be the stupidest of all of the possible options it had before it.

There are some things you can always depend on.

[JPhillips]

I wonder if the failure of liability protection in the COVID negotiations plays a role here? If colleges are potentially liable for illness and death, I can't imagine any lawyer recommending to play out a season given the outbreaks around the country.

[bronconick]

According to Dan Patrick, Big Ten voted 12-2 (Iowa, Nebraska) to postpone, and will announce it tomorrow with the PAC12. ACC and Big XII are undecided and the SEC wants to play

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by bronconick

the SEC wants to play

shocking

[Ksyrup]

It just means more.

[molson]

Maybe this is the year the SEC can get past the pretenses and just become a full-fledged professional football league.

[miami_fan]

I have not been following the Covid-19 situation in college football. Is the problem the different standards of protocol between the schools? Is the standard at like Stanford that much different than the standard at Washington State?

I picked those schools because they are the ones of have heard the most about.

[albionmoonlight]

If CFB really does take the Fall off, the NFL should look into playing Saturday games. That would be a way to make up some of the lost revenue from ticket sales.

[molson]

Already saw something about the NFL watching this play out very closely for that reason.

Are these season cancellations being announced or are they going to try to play a season in the spring and then another in the fall next year? It'd be kind of funny if everybody EXCEPT the SEC was playing the spring - if the SEC powers ahead in the fall. Maybe they'd try to sneak in a bonus season. It'd be fitting if during a historical pandemic, the SEC somehow managed 3 seasons in 2 years.

It feels like March when the dominoes were falling with sports. I think the NFL will give it a shot, and I'm hopeful things may have leveled off COVID-wise in the U.S., but with the uncertainty on campuses, I can't imagine college basketball is going to be unscathed. We could be looking at 2 years with out an NCAA tournament (at least).

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

If CFB really does take the Fall off, the NFL should look into playing Saturday games. That would be a way to make up some of the lost revenue from ticket sales.

Not to mention filling huge programming holes.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I have not been following the Covid-19 situation in college football. Is the problem the different standards of protocol between the schools? Is the standard at like Stanford that much different than the standard at Washington State?

I picked those schools because they are the ones of have heard the most about.

When the P5 conferences decided to play only conference games, the MAC lost 22 games against those teams. These games are big money makers for them. Since they weren't going to play those games, it wasn't very cost effective for the MAC to try to play their season since there would likely be added costs to playing under current circumstances.

If they were to play, there would have to be testing, right? That's going to cost money. The P5 conferences can handle that cost easier than mid-majors and lowers can.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by molson

Already saw something about the NFL watching this play out very closely for that reason.

Are these season cancellations being announced or are they going to try to play a season in the spring and then another in the fall next year? It'd be kind of funny if everybody EXCEPT the SEC was playing the spring - if the SEC powers ahead in the fall. Maybe they'd try to sneak in a bonus season. It'd be fitting if during a historical pandemic, the SEC somehow managed 3 seasons in 2 years.

It feels like March when the dominoes were falling with sports. I think the NFL will give it a shot, and I'm hopeful things may be have leveled off COVID-wise in the U.S., but with the uncertainty on campuses, I can't imagine college basketball is going to be unscathed. We could be looking at 2 years with out an NCAA tournament (at least).

It seems like I was dead wrong about my college football prediction but what the hell here is one for college basketball. I can see them having regional tournaments/games similar to Maui Invitational and the Coaches vs Cancer. After that they will just straight into conference play.

I think MLS is starting back up in their home markets this week so let’s see what it looks. Maybe they have learned something from that experience that will translate.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I think MLS is starting back up in their home markets this week so let’s see what it looks.

Mostly late next week. After the MLS is Back final, they are playing a few FC Dallas vs. Nashville matches - those are the two teams that had to be sent back home before the tournament for COVID cases - which will be a mini bubble.

Aug 20 is when the regular season (where teams are going to other team's home stadiums) supposedly starts.

It's actually in a phased system. Phase 1, starting Aug 20 involves teams playing against teams in a close geographical location and if that goes well Phase 2 involves widening the play.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I wonder if the failure of liability protection in the COVID negotiations plays a role here? If colleges are potentially liable for illness and death, I can't imagine any lawyer recommending to play out a season given the outbreaks around the country.

I think this is all about liability. Saw someone mention that insurance companies have a bigger say than any leaders of institutions right now.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

If they were to play, there would have to be testing, right? That's going to cost money. The P5 conferences can handle that cost easier than mid-majors and lowers can.

Not a great look for public institutions to mass test athletes when the average joe still has trouble and if they do get one the results take at least a week.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Not a great look for public institutions to mass test athletes when the average joe still has trouble and if they do get one the results take at least a week.

Now think about this at the high school level. We are pushed back again in Arizona, practice start 9/7 first game 10/9 but still no plan on what happens when an athlete tests positive and no availability for testing outside of going through normal public channels, which leaves a lot of gaps for student athletes to spread the disease if one of their teammates infects them and they are asymptomatic.

[RainMaker]

The testing kind of seems pointless. They're all going to get it at some point during a season. We can't get pro players to adhere to guidelines. Do people think high school and college kids are going to?

If you're going to play, you're just going to have to go the herd immunity route and pull kids who have symptoms.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The testing kind of seems pointless. They're all going to get it at some point during a season. We can't get pro players to adhere to guidelines. Do people think high school and college kids are going to?

If you're going to play, you're just going to have to go the herd immunity route and pull kids who have symptoms.

It's going to be a complete clusterfuck here in Arizona and I will likely forego coaching this year. My wives parents are too vulnerable and I can risk them getting it since she is their primary caregiver.

[JPhillips]

Yikes. From ESPN:

A rare heart condition that could be linked with the coronavirus is fueling concern among Power 5 conference administrators about the viability of college sports this fall.

Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten Conference athletes and among several other athletes in other conferences, according to two sources with knowledge of athletes' medical care.

[sterlingice]

Just remember, we're only here because Mitch McConnell didn't get his way in the 2nd stimulus negotiations. He wanted to basically make it impossible to sue for anything coronavirus related and shield business from any negligence

Businesses are facing Covid-19 lawsuits. The GOP has a radical plan to shield them from liability. - Vox


SI

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Yikes. From ESPN:

This potential condition even if you "recover" is not a new discovery though.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez done for season due to heart issue

And from back in early July: https://academic.oup.com/ehjcr/advan...taa212/5868575

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

This potential condition even if you "recover" is not a new discovery though.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez done for season due to heart issue

And from back in early July: COVID-19 fulminant myocarditis: a case report | European Heart Journal - Case Reports | Oxford Academic

Correct, not new. The issue (at least as I understand it) is the chances of this happening seem to be greater with COVID-19 than with previously known viral illnesses. Also, the fact that many people still make the argument that very few folks in this age range that are in good health are likely to die from COVID is why pointing out other troubling health risks from the disease is important.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Also, the fact that many people still make the argument that very few folks in this age range that are in good health are likely to die from COVID is why pointing out other troubling health risks from the disease is important.

Totally agree with this. There are many factors beyond just “but did they die?”

[NobodyHere]

Ryan Day: Ohio State will consider conference switch if needed

I know it's unlikely, but I would love to see Ohio State play in the SEC for a season.

[spleen1015]

It would be some crazy shit if a bunch of the good programs do something like that. Would be fun to see what happens.