A Timeline of CFB's Response to COVID-19

The past few weeks in the world of College Football have been eventful to say the least. Here, we’ll break down everything that has happened so far as of August 12th.

• Conferences Announce Their Schedules

About a week ago, the SEC announced that they will play a 10 game, conference only schedule this year. The ACC then announced that they will play an 11 game schedule with 10 conference games and 1 non-conference game. This will include Notre Dame, who made the decision to join the ACC for the 2020 season. The Big 10, Big 12, and PAC 12 also released similar schedules within the following days. At this point, life was good and everything was going according to plan.

• Rumors Swirl as Big 10 and PAC 12 Threaten to Cancel/Postpone Their Seasons

The week started off with a Power 5 source stating “The season is done. I think by the end of this week, all fall sports will be cancelled or postponed.” This immediately sparked a fire I’m not only the College Football community and fans around the country, but the players and coaches themselves as well as the President of the United States in Donald Trump. There were many following tweets and reports indicating that the 2020 College Football season would be done for and each of the Power 5 conferences were getting ready to announce the cancellation of the 2020 season. Players such as Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence started a movement for all of the players using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay. President Trump later tweeted “Play College Football!” All fans could do at this point was wait and hope that the right decision was made.

• Big 10 and PAC 12 Officially Cancel 2020 Season with Hopes of Playing in the Spring

The Big 10 and PAC 12 conferences broke the news a few days ago that they would officially be cancelling the fall football season for 2020, and would try to play in the spring. Big 10 commissioner spoke on Tuesday evening: “Because we announced a schedule does not mean we are going to play. As you gather information on a daily basis, that’s what day-to-day is. We have to still plan. I thought I was very clear in that it’s a day-to-day decision, and we’re going to do what’s best for the health and wellness for our student athletes.” Warren said that the decision was based on the sole uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Trends have gotten worse. Numbers have only gone up. It’s getting worse.” he said. Big 10 and PAC 12 players were obviously very disappointed following the news that they will not play a fall season. The Big 12, SEC, and ACC had all yet to announce a decision up to that point.

• Big 12, SEC, and ACC announce they will play a fall 2020 season.

The day after the Big 10 and PAC 12 had cancelled their fall seasons, the remaining Power 5 conferences confirmed that they will in fact play a season this fall, with games starting on September 26th. The individual conferences later released updated schedules for each team. Of course, college football fans everywhere were extremely happy to hear this news despite any health concerns. Bob Bowlsby, the chancellor of the Big 12 stated that they are “comfortable” in where they stand right now. "Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the board's collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely and in concert with the best interests of their well-being," Big 12 board of directors chairman and TCU chancellor Victor Boschini said in a statement. "We remain vigilant in monitoring the trends and effects of COVID 19 as we learn more about the virus. If at any point our scientists and doctors conclude that our institutions cannot provide a safe and appropriate environment for our participants, we will change course." This is everything we know up to this point.

Of course, there will be more news and changes every day as this is a difficult and challenging thing to handle. I feel like the Big 10 and PAC 12 made their decision a little bit too early, but at this point it doesn’t really matter. We will continue to see how the new Power 3 plays out.