No games doesn’t mean no football

Players without season will be on campus, practicing

For college football players at 54 schools across the Bowl Subdivision, this will be a semester like no other – a fall without the familiar rhythm of a season. That doesn’t mean they’ll be leaving campus, or be away from football.

Though their seasons have been scrapped due to COVID- 19 concerns, football players across the Big Ten, Pac- 12, Mid- American and Mountain West are still living on campus, still attending practices or workouts, and still benefiting from the resources that accompany a football scholarship, including access to academic tutoring and athletic training services.

Those arrangements will continue through the fall after the NCAA’s Division I Council voted Wednesday to permit football programs to spend up to 12 hours a week on organized walkthroughs, meetings and strength and conditioning sessions in the absence of a season. The NCAA’s typical cap for “athletically related activities” during the season is 20 hours a week.

While some coaches are frustrated that they will have less time to spend with players than their in- season counterparts, others are trying to view this fall as an opportunity.

“We’ve already begun our offseason conditioning program,” Michigan State coach Mel Tucker told reporters last week. “We’re treating this time like it’s January. We’re building a broad base of strength and conditioning that will allow us to be prepared for whatever happens next.”

The pandemic has left sports in limbo at all levels. As some universities move to online- only academic arrangements, presidents and conference officials are still weighing whether it’s safe or feasible to play.

One of the most popular arguments in favor of playing college football has been that athletes will be safer during the season because they’ll be on campus. Over the past week, however, the opposite has proved true.

Seven school and conference spokespeople surveyed by USA TODAY Sports said their football athletes have largely chosen to remain on campus following the postponement of the season. Many have continued to work out or practice.

“Nothing has changed,” Arizona State spokesman Mark Brand emailed.