Despite all signs pointing in that direction, Oklahoma football is not yet ready to give up.
In response to the growing coronavirus pandemic, the Big 12 announced March 12 that it had suspended all spring sports activities, including football practice, until at least March 29. Since then, however, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a statement March 15 in which it recommended that all gatherings of 50 or more people be canceled or postponed for the next eight weeks. Such a timeline would take us through the middle of May.
Since that CDC recommendation, it’s been further recommended that the number of people in any one gathering be limited to 10.
With all of that as the backdrop, Oklahoma had been scheduled to play its spring football game April 18. Wednesday, OU did the obvious and confirmed that game won’t be played on the date as scheduled.
Oklahoma, though, isn’t yet ready to officially cancel that spring football game. Even as it’s patently obvious it won’t be played. At all.
Here’s the statement from OU athletic director Joe Castiglione, in its entirety:We’ve been receiving a lot of questions about whether the spring game will be held on April 18, or even at all. The fact of the matter is it would be virtually impossible to hold the game on the originally scheduled date since we’re not sure when or if we’ll be able to return to practice. So in talking with [Oklahoma football head coach Lincoln] Riley, we feel at the very least it’s appropriate to announce that the game and associated activities will not occur on April 18.
Given all of the unknowns we’re facing, it’s impossible to determine right now when or if the game will be rescheduled. We will continue to communicate updates as information becomes available.