It just means more... angst when it comes to a 2020 season, especially when it comes to the SEC and the boss who will help decide if there is football this fall.
This past week, after the Big Ten’s decision to go conference-only games, both that league’s commissioner and one of its most powerful athletic directors sounded the alarm for an upcoming season. “We may not have a college football season in the Big Ten,” Kevin Warren warned. “ can’t reiterate enough the fact that we might not play. We just might not,” Gene Smith stated.
The SEC is expected to make its decision later this month on whether, like the Big Ten, to go to a conference-only schedule for football. Ahead of that, Greg Sankey stated during an interview that the sport “is running out of time.” And blasted the politicizing of safety in the midst of the pandemic.
“We put a medical advisory group together in early April with the question, ‘What do we have to do to get back to activity?’ and they’ve been a big part of the conversation,” Sankey said by way of ESPN.com. “But the direct reality is not good and the notion that we’ve politicized medical guidance of distancing, and breathing masks, and hand sanitization, ventilation of being outside, being careful where you are in buildings. There’s some very clear advice about -- you can’t mitigate and eliminate every risk, but how do you minimize the risk? ... We are running out of time to correct and get things right, and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be.”
The Pac-12 has already joined the Big Ten in going conference-only for the fall. The ACC announced it will make a decision in late July. The Big 12 is expected to have such a timeline as well.