While all the major sports leagues try to figure out when they are going to come back, college football is in a unique situation compared to the professionals. With different states experiencing different levels of the Coronavirus, it might be tough for all of the programs to start on time, if at all.
On Tuesday’s episode of Get Up, Paul Finebaum of The Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network talked about the return of college football being “the survival of the fittest.”
This segment was in response to Florida head coach Dan Mullen telling ESPN’s Laura Rutledge “we can’t sit here” and wait on every program to be ready to play. Rutledge mentioned in the conversation between Mike Greenberg, Dan Orlovsky, and Finebaum how the state of Florida soon opening gyms could lead to his players returning:
“A couple of weeks time, he [Mullen] thinks they will be able to open up the weight room. In the state of Florida, they may be opening gyms in a couple of weeks. They feel like their guys will be working out anyways in some of their gyms. They would rather have them on campus at their gym where they could monitor things and practicing as much safety as possible.”
“What they have dealt with, they have sent some tests out to some of their players who thought they might be positive for COVID and have not had any positive tests back, but they have been securing some tests. I do think that’s happening around the country as well.”
Finebaum also mentioned towards the end of the conversation some potential scheduling changes if Alabama can’t play USC to begin the year in Texas, they could play TCU because the Horned Frogs right now are scheduled to begin the year at California.
As Finebaum puts it, a lot of athletic departments need the revenue from college football. According to Forbes, a big-time program like Ohio State brings in $60 million for the department solely on ticket sales.
There is still time before college football begins, but a lot of questions remain unanswered. It is up to the NCAA and the conference commissioners to come together to try to make a plan that keeps the student-athletes safe first and foremost.
Last week, NCAA commissioner Mark Emmert said that he does not think sports can begin unless there are students taking classes on campus instead of the distance learning that has been going on recently.
