Sooners seek to move up opener

OU has petitioned the NCAA for a waiver that would allow the Sooners to move their 2020 football opener against Missouri State from Sept. 5 to Aug. 29, The Oklahoman has learned. Missouri State apparently is agreeable to the move.

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione's rationale in this pandemic-stricken year is that moving the opener would give OU an off week after each of its first two games, which could be valuable with the testing of players for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

With constant t est - ing and the subsequent contact tracing for those exposed, teams face a season with frequent quarantines and isolation of players who either

have the virus or have been exposed to it.

OU is scheduled to host Tennessee on Sept. 1 2, then play at Army on Sept. 26.

Thursday, the Big Ten announced it would play only conference games this season, and reports say the Pac-12 will follow suit. But Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Thursday the Big 12 still plans to play non- conference games.

The college football season is scheduled to start on Aug .29, Zero Week, which was instituted to allow teams that play at Hawaii to offset those costs with an extra regular-season home game. The NCAA last year granted a waiver that moved the Florida-Miami to Zero Week, ostensibly to celebrate college football's 150th anniversary.

There is no guarantee that the NCAA will grant OU's request, which has no apparent financial ramification.

“We don' t know for sure if we'll have fans at t he game,” Castiglione said. “We don't even for sure if we'll have the game itself. There's no guarantee on anything.”

But any open date this season could help a team avoid roster depletion in the case of a coronavirus outbreak. The Big Ten's decision to play only conference games was made in part so the league would have 14 weeks toge tin the planned 10- game season.

Players who test positive for the virus are expected to be quarantined for 14 days, which potentially could mean sitting out two games, unless t here's an open date. Players who are exposed to the virus will be isolated until a negative test result. Sources from both OU and OSU reported that test results are coming back within 24 hours, but the process is not so quick at every Big 12 school.

“What we don't know is the number of players we'd have to hold out through contact tr aci ng alone,” Castiglione said.

For example, if an offensive line man tests positive, the entire offensive line could be isolated until test results come back negative. That could leave a team so shorthanded a game might not be possible.