It’s now very possible college football on every level will not be played this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to ESPN, the commissioners of the Power 5 conferences held an emergency meeting on Sunday night to talk about if the 2020 football season could be played this fall. No decisions were made, but multiple sources in several Power 5 conferences told ESPN the commissioners have talked about collaborating if the school presidents decide to cancel or postpone fall sports.
The Big Ten Conference seems ready to call off the football season. Sources told ESPN that Big Ten Presidents are ready to cancel fall sports and wanted to see if the presidents and chancellors from the other schools in the Power 5 conference would follow suit. However, reports state a majority of Big Ten presidents indicated they would vote to postpone the football season and return in the spring.
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ACC athletic directors are set to meet on Monday morning because of Sunday’s meeting. The presidents and chancellors of the Pac-12 universities are set to meet on Tuesday. Sources have told ESPN the postponement or cancellation of the football season seems inevitable and would take the Power 5 conferences to move in that direction.
“No one has talked about a plan if the season is canceled,” West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons, who is the chair of the Football Oversight Committee, ESPN. “If it’s canceled, we need to be able to give clear direction at that time, as opposed to saying, ‘We don’t know.’”
All this comes after all the conferences announcing their new schedules for the 2020 season, which are conference only. On Friday, the SEC announced the opponents each team would play this season. However, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced it has canceled the 2020 season, making it the first FBS conference to make the decision. UConn recently announced its decision to cancel football this fall, making it the first FBS school to call of the season.
Based on what the other divisions of college football have done, the Power 5 Conference may have to make the decision and postpone football at least until spring. Division II and Division III of the NCAA has called off championships for all fall sports. Also, several FCS conferences have postponed football, making it likely the FCS football championship will be canceled.
