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Amidst chaos, Missouri, SEC still hope for fall football

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The concerns about playing a college football season this fall that have been simmering since mid-March, when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered college sports, appeared destined to come to a head on Monday.

Reports began to surface Sunday afternoon that the first of the Power Five conferences, the Big Ten and the Pac-12, were considering canceling the 2020 season as a result of the coronavirus. That led to speculation that the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision, including the SEC, could follow suit within the week. Those rumors intensified Monday morning, with the Detroit Free Press even reporting that the Big Ten had pulled the plug on a fall season.

While cancelation certainly remains a possibility, especially in the Big Ten and Pac-12, there has since been some pushback against abandoning the football season so soon. The Big Ten released a statement saying nothing had been decided, and a vote among member presidents is reportedly scheduled for Monday evening. PAC-12 presidents are scheduled to meet on Tuesday and could hold a vote about the status of the season. The Mid-American Conference became the first to postpone football season over the weekend and those teams were joined by the Mountain West, including Boise State, San Diego State and others, followed suit Monday afternoon.

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Meanwhile, leaders from both Missouri and the SEC sought to assure fans that, regardless of what happens with other leagues, the conference still plans to not only host football but other fall sports seasons as well — at least for now.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey acknowledged in a pair of tweets that "concerns remain," but said the league "has not stopped trying" to make a football season a reality. The league announced on July 30 that member schools would play 10-game, conference-only schedules with a delayed start date of Sept. 26. Tuesday, the conference also pushed back the start of fall camp practices to Aug. 17.

Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk released a similar statement to PowerMizzou.com about an hour later, saying football camp practices are still expected to begin a week from Monday.

“Since college athletics stopped back in March, the Southeastern Conference has not rushed its decision-making processes while working collaboratively to develop plans for all sports to return to play in the healthiest environment possible," Sterk's statement read. "Working with Commissioner Sankey, his staff and our medical task force, I can tell you that we have not stopped trying to find ways to bring sports back in the COVID-19 environment we live in today. As of today, volleyball and soccer practices for the 2020 season are underway and we have every reason to believe that at this time football practice will begin as scheduled a week from today. By being deliberate in our decision-making processes as a conference, I believe the SEC has given its teams the best opportunity at the chance to play this fall, and while we continue to explore all options available to compete, now more than ever, it is critical that we continue to educate, support and care for our 550 student-athletes who proudly wear Mizzou’s Black & Gold.”

That statement followed a call with the league's athletic directors that took place on Monday morning. Presidents from SEC schools reportedly met Monday afternoon.

Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk
Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk (Cassie Florido)

College administrators face several complicated issues in attempting to pull off a 2020 football season, from keeping student-athletes from becoming infected once the general student population returns to campus to following strict protocols — including a mandate that any-player who deemed to have "high-risk exposure" to an infected person quarantine for a minimum of 14 days — to answering players' demands that they be allowed to organize and have a seat at the table in discussions about a potential season. For weeks, reports have swirled about athletics directors' widespread pessimism that a season could be pulled off, even as conferences released revised scheduling plans. With the NCAA largely powerless to enact universal legislation, Sunday's reports about the cancelation of college football felt inevitable.

But the reports have been answered by a sudden upswell of support for the season. Players and coaches from coast to coast spoke up en masse on social media, using the hashtag #WeWantToPlay. Nick Bolton, Missouri's all-SEC junior linebacker, was among them, tweeting Sunday night "We just wanna ball man."

Politicians joined the cause, too, including President Donald Trump. Trump quoted a tweet from Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence saying players wanted to play but asking for a college football players' association, among other things, writing "the student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled."

Whether the renewed support for a fall season will be enough to sway the university presidents ultimately tasked with making the decision remains to be seen. Timetables and storylines seem to change hourly. On Monday morning, it seemed the Big Ten and PAC-12 were destined to call off the season within 48 hours. By the afternoon, that seemed very much in doubt. The SEC may have some solidarity with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The SEC intentionally left itself some wiggle room by pushing the start date back to September 26th. It is the latest start for any of the major conferences, three full weeks behind what the Big Ten had originally intended. That gives the league more time to make any decisions and it has been deliberate about waiting as long as possible throughout the summer.

The odds still appear to be somewhat against teams finding a way to complete the season, but Sterk and Sankey have at least made clear that the SEC is going to make every effort. The conference even left open the possibility of playing even if one or two of the Power Five leagues opt to cancel.

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