NEWSLETTER
College football remains in flux.
While the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced the postponement of the 2020 fall sports calendar, the SEC and ACC declared their plans remain unchanged:
Statement from @SEC Commissioner @GregSankey pic.twitter.com/8nyweGPBk1
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) August 11, 2020
Statement from the ACC: pic.twitter.com/9lBY5h8jNy
— The ACC (@theACC) August 11, 2020
At first blush, I read those tweets as statements that had plenty of words to say nothing.
No decision was made in one way or another. By either conference. But by not immediately following the Big Ten and Pac-12, the ACC and SEC essentially made statements that each was willing to keep its options open. That counts as something, even if it sounds like nothing.
Meanwhile, the Big 12 started the day as the only Power 5 conference to not have made any public statement about a fall sports schedule. That changed when the conference released this …
https://twitter.com/Big12Conference/status/1293569933721448450?s=20
… as well as its 2020 football schedule:
https://twitter.com/Big12Conference/status/1293570940689944578?s=20
So one day after the Big Ten and Pac-12 shut down operations for fall sports, the Big 12 dropped its revised conference schedule after the ACC and SEC continued to move forward with their respective seasons. It’s certainly a bold decision, but one the conference believes it can make while delivering a safe environment for student-athletes, coaches, staff, and others involved in the college football process.
Safety should be the priority here. So as long as conferences that insist on playing prioritize the health and well-being of their student athletes, I can respect this decision. And that’s even if I have my own reservations about the process. With that being said, we’ll continue to monitor the situation. Because as we have come to learn, circumstances can change in an instant.
