The NFL is plowing ahead with plans for its 2020 season. For college football though, it isn’t so easy. There is no commissioner in college sports, no central authority that can lay out a blanket ruling all conferences and schools must follow. Instead, it is up to individual conferences and their commissioners to make decisions on the upcoming football season.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told Emily Caron of Front Office Sports that he intends to have a decision by June or July. He acknowledges that the ability to play football will largely depend on state lawmakers in the conference’s footprint.
“We have tried to coordinate with public health officials, and we’ve tried to coordinate with governor’s offices because ultimately, that’s where these decisions are going to be made,” Bowlsby said on Front Office Sports’ video series Fundamentals. “They’re going to empower university presidents and chancellors and boards of trustees to go and make their own decisions as to how they’re going to operate their university. I think most of the decision dates for our schools are somewhere between early June and late July in terms of just exactly what the fall is going to look like. Those of us that are involved in the athletics enterprise are going to have to be responsive. I don’t think we can drive those decisions. That’s the tail wagging the dog, I think.”
Bowlsby described the window between mid-June and early July as “the sweet spot” for making a decision. He doesn’t foresee there being enough information to determine whether or not it is safe to resume practices before then. His goal is still to begin the season on Labor Day weekend.
Finally, Bowlsby made it clear that he wants fans to be prepared for an untraditional season. He told Caron that he expects changes in a number of areas including facility operations, travel, sanitation, health, and wellness testing, fan experience adjustments, and venue spacing.
Even with an abundance of caution, Bowlsby says that there is no reason to assume everything goes off without a hitch.
“I just think college campuses are Petri dishes for infectious diseases. They always are. There are lots of people, and they’re living in close quarters, and they’re partying and interfacing, and there’s just lots going on. Some of that is going to find itself in the athletics population.”
