Bad news on the way for college football

The bad news keeps coming, day after day. The latest Wednesday really hit home — literally — for those of us who love college football.

PSAC Suspends NCAA Competition For Fall 2020

That was the headline from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. There will be no football games at IUP, Slippery Rock and the 14 other league schools in our little corner of the world. The announcement followed similar news from the Ivy League and Patriot League.

Things are no better on the major college football level. The Big 10 and Pac-12 have announced they will play a conference schedule only this season. The other three Power Five conferences are expected to follow.

You know what the next announcement will be, right?

That there will be no college football this fall.

That there will be no major college football in the spring.

That there will be no major college football until August 2021.

“We are running out of time to correct and get things right,” was the word to ESPN from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who runs college football’s most powerful league. “The trends [with COVID-19] are not what we desired, not what we had experienced earlier in the summer. Pretty much in the wrong decision. That’s problematic.” Sankey added his concern for a season is “high to very high … the direct reality is not good.”

I know what Ed Orgeron, coach of national champion LSU, is saying. “We need to play. Football is the lifeblood of our country. This [coronavirus] can be handled.”

I know the financial devastation that a lost football season would mean to the colleges, especially after the lost revenue from the canceled NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Earlier this month, Stanford became the latest of many schools to cut its sports programs, 11 in all.

I know the financial devastation that a lost football season would mean to the college towns. Tuscaloosa, Ala., mayor Walt Maddox has said his city would lose approximately $200 million in revenue if there is no

Alabama Crimson Tide football.

I know all of that.

But I also know college football faces the most difficult road to a season this fall. Pro athletes have a union to look out for their best interests. Who’s going to look out for the college kids? The pro leagues can afford regular testing for COVID-19. Who’s going to pay to test the college players? Pro athletes are well-compensated to risk getting the virus. College players get virtually nothing to play. Most of the pros will follow all the safety protocols because they want to get paid. Most of the college kids will do what college kids do — party. There is no way they’re going to live in a bubble.

Do you really believe there’s a chance, even the slightest chance, for a college football season?

Don’t expect it to happen in the spring, either.

The Ivy League, Patriot League and PSAC might be able to pull off spring football, but it’s not going to work for the Power Five conferences. For one thing, it is too much of a physical commitment to ask the players on that level to play two full seasons in one calendar year. For another, the best players aren’t going to want to play in the spring with the NFL draft scheduled for late-April. They will be all-in on the NFL at that point. Why in the world if you are, say, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and you’re going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, are you going to line up to play Boston College in March? It’s hard to imagine any of the top players being willing to play. There even has been speculation that some of those players will skip a fall season. Why should they risk their health when they are so close to the NFL and financial security?

But that last point is a moot point.

There isn’t going to be a fall football season.

Don’t you just hate the truth?