Question not how well do football teams play, but do they play

Will there be a football season this fall?

It's not a question normally asked this time of year, but this is not normal times.

Usually, the biggest question reserved for late July and August around Starkville is how good are the Mississippi State Bulldogs going to be this football season and what will their record be?

Answers were supposed to start coming last week at Southeastern Conference Media Days, but because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the damage at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta because of rioting, those meetings were not held. The conference announced last month that SEC Media Days were postponed and will be done virtually. A date still hasn't been set for the event that attracts hundreds of media members each year.

SEC Media Days was going to be quite the show this year because of new head coaches Mike Leach of MSU and Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss. There was much anticipation to hear from those men.

Unfortunately, the potential record or how well the Bulldogs or Rebels will perform is far from the minds of many fans right now.

Somehow MSU, Ole Miss and the other football teams across the country just need to get to the point where it can even get on the field for competition. Anything beyond that would be gravy at this point.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't look good for that to happen.

With the Big 10 and Pac 10 announcing in the last week that it's going with conference games only this season, we are headed down the wrong path to have football.

There was a report late Friday afternoon that the Southwestern Athletic Conference will announce Monday it will cancel the 2020 football season, but that has not been confirmed. The SEC is expected to make an announcement on what late this month.

The Mississippi High School Activities Association postponed its football season for two weeks, while the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools has no plans for a delay at this time.

Steps are being taken to try and salvage as much of a football season as possible. Much will depend on how the numbers look in the next two weeks.

If fans want there to be football, it's important to follow

it will do the guidelines of the CDC and health care officials. The two main things to do is wear masks when out in public and social distance in large groups.

The ability to get this pandemic under control will be the only way sports, specifically football, will be played this fall.