Last three standing seek to save season
The Southeastern Conference is more powerful, visionary and forwardthinking than the NCAA.
The Big 12 is more powerful than the NCAA.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is more powerful than the NCAA.
And those same Power Three truths apply to the Group of Five’s American Athletic Conference, which houses the University of Houston.
Where in the world is NCAA president Mark Emmert?
Who knows? Maybe he’s wearing head-to-toe PPE gear inside a secure presidential bunker.
But it’s already painfully clear that a united SEC, Big 12 and ACC are the only remaining hope when it comes to saving college football in 2020.
“It’s been a long time since I haven’t spoken
with the two commissioners from those two conferences on at least a daily basis. Sometimes it’s more frequent than that,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Wednesday during a conference call. “Believe it or not, we actually like and respect one another. … We beat each other’s brains out when we actually compete. But we actually spend a lot more time collaborating than we do anything else. We speak very regularly. We share challenges in common, of course.”
Bowlsby sounded much more presidential, open-minded and determined than anything coming from NCAA headquarters since mid-March. And I’m normally not in the business of praising Bowlsby.
Massive conference realignment and the mad race for every last dollar dictated college sports at the start of the previous decade. That’s why Texas A&M is now a proud member of the SEC, West Virginia belongs to the Big 12 and Missouri gets to pretend
like it’s also a member of the SEC. And partially why A&M and Texas tragically don’t play each other in football anymore.
In August of 2020, three power conferences that normally try to one-up each other when it comes to recruiting, facilities, monster TV deals and monster head coaches must share best practices, remain as open as possible and work together daily. And that still won’t guarantee Texas is able to play Oklahoma on Oct. 10 at the Cotton Bowl.
“When the conference comes out and says, ‘We’re committed to finding every way possible that we can play this season,’ I think that gives them (players) a lot of pride, and it gives them a lot of confidence that if they come out here and do what they’re supposed to do, they’re going to get to play this great game that they love,” Texas coach Tom Herman said in a statement.
When the conference says it. Not when the NCAA does.
I, like you, have no idea if big-time college football will be played from September through December in the glorious year that is 2020.
That’s the point of 2020 and the coronavirus: Everything keeps changing rapidly.
“We want to play” and “Let them play” are already outdated. The moment the Big Ten caved — commissioner Kevin Warren must be taking his public-relations cues from Emmert — and the poor Pac-12 followed the “leader,” all the catchy socialmedia slogans were moved to the recycle bin, and college football in 2020 was devoted to the potential power of the Power Three.
The SEC, Big 12 and ACC must fend for themselves. Whatever remains of the College Football Playoff now comes down to the off-field failure or success of three conferences. Your Saturdays this fall will be dictated by the Power Three’s combined ability to test, quarantine, trace, react and consistently re-evaluate.
Players want to play. Coaches want to coach. Gargantuan athletic programs want to stay alive — and keep funding all the nonrevenue sports that depend upon football and men’s basketball for survival.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 could
have waited until early September to punt to 2021. Or, you know, tried it out and played a couple games.
Bowlsby basically laughed at the idea that spring football will be 100 percent sanitized and safe.
I keep finding it humorous and hypocritical that all those swearing college football can’t be played in 2020 — before a single game has been played — have spent decades happily supporting an incredibly violent game that is inherently dangerous. Those same armchair medical experts will be proudly cheering in front of their TVs this fall (or sitting in the stands with the 25 percenters) if the SEC, Big 12 and ACC are able to somehow complete this crazy science experiment.
“If anybody is around that tells you that they can accurately forecast what’s going to happen with the virus, they’re delusional,” Bowlsby said. “Even the best scientific minds are unable to forecast with precision.”
Dang. There I go agreeing with Bowlsby again.
Outside voices teased ruin
after a series of positive coronavirus tests appeared early in Major League Baseball’s 60-game season. MLB has obviously had a few issues since March. But the Astros were set to play their 18th game Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park, and baseball continues to help carry us through the coronavirus blues.
Some of the same experts who swore the NBA’s Florida bubble would crack — it hasn’t yet, and the playoffs are approaching — are now insisting that the entirety of college football should be indefinitely postponed.
The SEC, Big 12 and ACC can shut it all down at any time. That’s easy. That’s what the Big Ten and Pac-12 did.
While the NCAA hides, the new Power Three is trying to stay open for business, heed the desires of its diverse collection of players and find a safe way through the coronavirus.
That’s difficult and commendable. Just ask everyone still making it through daily life five months into this pandemic.