The president at Iowa has given college football fans a glimmer of hope. Obviously, though, there’s still a long way to go. A long, long, long way.
The upcoming college football season is scheduled to kick off Aug. 29 with seven games involving FBS schools, including Navy-Notre Dame in Dublin. Seemingly the only near-certainty amidst the coronavirus pandemic uncertainty is that, according to most observers, it is highly unlikely the new college football season will kick off as planned. Myriad ideas have been bandied about if/when the season doesn’t start on time. An October start. Or January. Or February, which seems to have garnered the most notoriety as being the most feasible. Or “a split season where some games happen in the fall and some happen in the spring.”
Suffice to say, anything and everything is on the table.
Which brings us to Bruce Harreld. Thursday, the University of Iowa stated that athletics, including football, are planning on resuming practice June 1. Nearly one month from to the day today. It’s easily the earliest resumption of the sport that has come across since it was shut down in mid-March.
“We’re hopeful that this will be behind us at this point,” the president added.
University of Iowa pres said athletes planning to resume practice, including footballers, June 1. 'We're hopeful that this will be behind us at this point.'
— Vanessa Miller (@VanessaMiller12) April 30, 2020
Harreld said football teams would need 6-8 weeks to prepare for a season. Didn't offer clear opinion on playing with no fans. But he ended his answer with, "June 1 is the date we're going to get back to practice and here we go."
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 30, 2020
Suffice to say, Harreld’s timeline is decidedly optimistic given the uncertainty swirling around the pandemic. Some might even call it unrealistic.
Of course, just because Iowa is planning on football returning to the practice fields the first of June in no way, shape or form means that the season will start on time. Far from it. There are simply too many variables, starting with the various states in this country in varying degrees of lifting or easing stay-at-home orders.
Or, as Bob Bowlsby, the Big 12 commissioner who offered up the idea of a split season, put it Thursday.
“We will be very, very lucky to start on Labor Day weekend and get through the football season without disruptions. We will be very lucky to get through the postseason and the basketball season without disruptions. We’re going to have a new normal and we’re going to have to have an idea of how we’re going to deal with these things.”