Trump pushes for games

President Donald Trump on Monday joined a U.S. senator and a number of coaches calling to save the college football season from a pandemic-forced shutdown as supporters pushed the premise that the players are safer because of their sport.

There was speculation two of the five most powerful conferences — the Big Ten and the Pac-12 — might call off their seasons and explore the possibility of spring football like the Mountain West and MAC already are doing.

Back east, Old Dominion canceled fall sports, too, becoming the first school in college football’s highest tier to break from its league; the rest of Conference USA is going forward.

A Big Ten spokesman said no votes on fall sports had been taken by its presidents and chancellors as of Monday. The conference’s athletic directors were scheduled to meet later in the day, but it’s the university presidents who will have the final say on whether football is played.

The powerful Southeastern Conference made clear it was not ready to shutter its fall season.

“Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: ‘Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day,’” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey posted on Twitter.

“Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying.”

A growing number of athletes have spoken out about saving the season. President Trump threw his support behind them on Monday.

“The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled,” the president tweeted.