When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, many people surmised that it wouldn’t be a major issue by the time football season rolls around. However, as certain states like California, Texas and Florida appear to be spiking right now, it has raised a lot of questions as to how the 2020 college football season will play out. Let’s take a look back at some of the latest developments to see how the pandemic has impacted college football.
No live NCAAF games are available for wagering as of yet, due to COVID-19 issues, but you can bet on the college football championship already!
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Aug, 3
COVID-19 Outbreak Strikes Rutgers Football
The Rutgers football program is in the midst of a huge COVID-19 outbreak with 28 players with multiple staff members testing positive for the coronavirus, NJ.com reported.
July 30
SEC Decides on Conference-Only Schedule, Pushes Kickoff to Sept. 26
Huge news on the college football front. The powerhouse SEC will follow the ACC and PAC-12 and go with a conference-only schedule. That means schols will play 10 games and will start Sept. 26. The conference championship won’t take place until Dec. 19.
NEWS | @SEC establishes new football start date of September 26 and Conference-only football competition.https://t.co/UhFFOfQ2lK
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) July 30, 2020
UGA President Jere Morehead statement: pic.twitter.com/22D5TtUnJI
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) July 30, 2020
NCAA Football: July 29
Report: Rutgers Outbreak Linked to Dorm Party
The COVID-19 outbreak among Rutgers football players has been linked to a dorm party, NJ.com reported:
Athletes from various Rutgers sports programs, including the football team, gathered for a recent on-campus party, two people with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media on Wednesday, and it has been cited by state health officials as the reason why the Scarlet Knights football team needed to halt workouts last Saturday due to a series of positive tests.
ACC Posts Schedule for Football, Fall Sports
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Tuesday it will be going forward with college football and Fall sports. The plan for football is 10 conference games and one non-conference foe. One of the bigger nuggets in the announcement is Notre Dame will be eligible to play in the ACC Championship Game in November.
The 2020 Football Schedule Model has been announced.
More info: https://t.co/D6iCbHIY1x pic.twitter.com/dfhTqr4YTd
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) July 29, 2020
Virginia Tech star DB opts-out
Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley announced Wednesday he will forgo the 2020 college football season due to COVID-19 health concerns and instead start preparing for the NFL draft. Farley is the highest-profile college player to do so
NCAAF College Football Updates: July 15
Ivy League Bows Out
One of the first leagues to cancel all football and fall sports was the Ivy League. That includes teams like Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Cornell. Truth be told, this won’t have any major impact on the college football season but it will have an impact on the 20-2021 college basketball season – if they aren’t participating.
NCAAF Schedule Has Been Changed
Many college football teams have already adjusted their 2020 schedules to only hold conference games in 2020. That means that we’re going to see virtually no non-conference games on the calendar. While the schedules are still being ironed out, what we do know is that the Big Ten and Pac-12 have already announced that they are only playing conference games in 2020. The Big Ten announced their conference-only model back on July 9th while the ACC and Big 12 are going to wait until late July to make their decision.
With the announcements already made, we’re going to miss out on Michigan-Washington, Ohio State Oregon and Iowa State-Iowa. We’ll see what other cancellations come up if the conference-only model takes flight across all of the conferences.
Clemson, Texas Players Test Positive
One of the teams that has been hit hard with the COVID-19 pandemic has been the Clemson Tigers. A total of 37 players have tested positive and that’s all we know about. Apparently other athletes in other Clemson sports have also been battling the pandemic too. So far, we haven’t heard of anyone really having too many problems in terms of symptoms but it’s something to keep an eye on.
Other teams have also been dealing with the virus as 13 players at Texas have tested positive, 14 at Kansas State and six at Houston. Alabama, Florida State, Auburn, Mississippi, South Florida, Iowa State, California and Oklahoma State have also all reported some positive cases.
Students On Campus?
One of the biggest questions for the 2020 season will be whether or not schools will have players on campus. We’ve been hearing this battle play out politically as it’s unclear whether or not young adults are at risk. The mortality rates for anyone under 60 are extremely low but the concern is that students can pass the virus on to others, and then the pandemic will continue to rage on. Beyond that, many teachers, professors and admi stuff are within age groups where they could be more vulnerable. That being the case, it’s hard to know what schools plan to do.
Harvard, for example, has already said that they won’t have students on campus in the fall semester. If other major colleges follow that game plan, it will be impossible for those schools to have college football teams and participate in the season.
When Will College Football Season Start?
As of now, nothing has changed with the start date of the 2020 College Football schedule. We’re going to have to see some updated schedules if more teams decide to go the conference-only route but as of now, the 2020 college football season starts on August 29th.
