Breaking: SEC Approves Conference Only Schedule - Season starts Sep 26

[allvol123]

I don’t understand it either how is traveling to Baton Rouge let’s say any safer than going to Norman ?

Exact thought I had.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Very serious, I guess LSU is ranked ahead of them in the polls, but i expect a huge drop off with changing DCs, QB coach, and the single greatest season ever from a QB. Just not going to happen. They'll still be good, just probably not top 4. Auburn is lower than then preseason.

I guess man, but OU lost a lot too . They continually get beat badly year after year in the CFP . I wasn’t afraid of OU in the least bit.

 

[norrislakevol]

I wish we had one gimme game start the season before 10 straight SEC games.

Me too. Really needed an easy game to help figure out the QB situation.

 

[hardyemt_p]

Breaking

Will we open with the Gators? That would be...different.

It will be aight, it will be there first game too!

 

[hardyemt_p]

Me too. Really needed an easy game to help figure out the QB situation.

It worked out well last year didn't it.

 

[tn4elvis]

Me too. Really needed an easy game to help figure out the QB situation.

I wonder if there is going to be a bye week. Surely they wont play 10 straight weeks of conference games. There may not be enough healthy bodies by week 7 or 8 to finish.

 

[norrislakevol]

It worked out well last year didn't it.

Good point, but I really feel that Even against a weak opponent the coaches could see if JG was better, or up to the same ole shenanigans.

 

[Jxn Vol]

Get HB15 ready for the gators!

And bring me Kiffin!!

 

[norrislakevol]

I wonder if there is going to be a bye week. Surely they wont play 10 straight weeks of conference games. There may not be enough healthy bodies by week 7 or 8 to finish.

Supposedly there is a bye in the middle of the season for everyone. SEC title game to be played on DEC 19th I think.

 

[Dumbledorange]

Paul Finebaum

@finebaum
·
48m

Commissioner
@GregSankey
on the decision to play conference-only games: "We don’t know what the fall is going to look like. Having the ability to manage our own schedule, we believe this gives us the best opportunity to play for our championship.”

Paul Finebaum

@finebaum
·
2h

--
@RossDellenger
says he believes the SEC is moving the start of its season to Sept. 26 because schools are expecting more virus outbreaks when students return. "I think they just want time."

Paul Finebaum

@finebaum
·
1h

“We all have different issues, different hot spots and different thinking among public health officials and governors. In the end, I think we’ll all be comparable, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be identical.” Big 12 Commissioner
@BobBowlsby
on Power 5 collaboration.

 

[tn4elvis]

Supposedly there is a bye in the middle of the season for everyone. SEC title game to be played on DEC 19th I think.

That's good news for the kids.As a former small college player I can tell you that your body needs it during the season.

 

[Tnphil]

This article by Tony Barnhart sort of explains why 10 conference games and no OOC games.

The SEC would be giving up 12 high profile games with ACC and Big 12 opponents in order to play a 10-game conference-only schedule

 

[RDU VOL#14]

It's a schedule, an interim at best, no games have been played and may not. We'll see.

When you see your life's work crumbling, you get nervous.

 

[Russdaddy2027]

Its all just words on paper. A plan.... To say they have one. Covid is already popping up. Teams will be in constant quarantine and we will be lucky if we see one game.
instead of just ripping the band aid off and canceling, we will be watching the season slowly and systematically erode away.

i hope i’m wrong but I doubt it.

 

[vavolfan6]

Moving the Oklahoma game is actually a good thing for the program. It sucks we have to wait to play them, but it gives more time for our program to legitimize itself and make the game a true marquee matchup.

Teams should play games against the opposite division opponent which placed the same as them.

 

[spyfish007]

Paul Finebaum
@finebaum
·
48m

Commissioner
@GregSankey
on the decision to play conference-only games: "We don’t know what the fall is going to look like. Having the ability to manage our own schedule, we believe this gives us the best opportunity to play for our championship.”

Paul Finebaum
@finebaum
·
2h

--
@RossDellenger
says he believes the SEC is moving the start of its season to Sept. 26 because schools are expecting more virus outbreaks when students return. "I think they just want time."

Paul Finebaum
@finebaum
·
1h

“We all have different issues, different hot spots and different thinking among public health officials and governors. In the end, I think we’ll all be comparable, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be identical.” Big 12 Commissioner
@BobBowlsby
on Power 5 collaboration.

I wrote this in a thread late last night.

I think I can see why this is happening.

1) go conference only and the SEC or any conference is control of their own choices. It cuts off the interdependency if things go haywire overall or in other parts of the country. You don't need a large group to agree, just your conference, which are the same people you have shared finances. Very smart.

2) more quality home games with all conference games. If you have to restrict number of fans at any game, now all season holders share equally in the reduction. 5 games at 40% attendance means every ticket holder gets 2 home games and with more quality games the complaints are reduced. (Not going to zero). Of course this assumes season ticket holders equals capacity. We know that it is really 60%. Maybe you get 2 games in your regular seats and a 3rd or 4th game in a lesser seat??

 

[OffTackleVol]

Ol Dumble is starting to get nervous , I like it . Let play some football !

Ah, he can still watch his 600 recorded movies and still enjoy his MP3's. Regardless, he was going to have to can and freeze his half acre of veggies whether we played ball or not. Promise you he'll be on here with all capital letters celebrating if the season does get cancelled...........

 

[Orange defense]

This will be interesting. Only the SEC beating up on each other before the SEC championship game.

 

[Vfl2407]

I don’t understand it either how is traveling to Baton Rouge let’s say any safer than going to Norman ?

It’s not about that.
It’s about a revised tv contract that will keep all of the money in conference.

 

[GAVol]

It’s not about that.
It’s about a revised tv contract that will keep all of the money in conference.

Definitely. It’s about having a controllable schedule for TV with some flexibility built in.

 

[BisonVol]

I wrote this in a thread late last night.

I think I can see why this is happening.

1) go conference only and the SEC or any conference is control of their own choices. It cuts off the interdependency if things go haywire overall or in other parts of the country. You don't need a large group to agree, just your conference, which are the same people you have shared finances. Very smart.

2) more quality home games with all conference games. If you have to restrict number of fans at any game, now all season holders share equally in the reduction. 5 games at 40% attendance means every ticket holder gets 2 home games and with more quality games the complaints are reduced. (Not going to zero). Of course this assumes season ticket holders equals capacity. We know that it is really 60%. Maybe you get 2 games in your regular seats and a 3rd or 4th game in a lesser seat??

I think the first point you listed definitely played a huge part in the decision. What I view as the number one reason for this, though, is the additional time it allows to see what happens with the virus once students are back on campus before ever actually playing any games. It just makes sense logistically from that standpoint.

My gut tells me the virus will be extremely difficult to contain with so many students on campus which bodes poorly for there being a college football season. Schools can implement all the rules they want regarding masks and social distancing, but at the end of the day these are college kids. Those rules will be broken eventually.

 

[MWAVolfan]

This is nothing more than the first step in cancelling the season. They are buying time praying that when school starts there is not a virus apocalypse. First it's this, next it will be division only games, finally it will be buh-bye season. I hope that doesnt happen but really this is not a "resolution" to the problem. The season is still very much on life support.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

This is gonna be ugly.

If the season actually starts, the odds of actually playing a full 10 games are slim to none.

See: Spanish Flu Pandemic 1918/19.

It's deja vu all over again.


View attachment 296415

"I think there are parallels in what we can learn from 1918 in terms of how we respond to a pandemic," Smith added. "The cities that were hesitant and didn't impose closure orders as quickly had far more fatalities. I think the lesson we can draw in general from 1918 about how to respond to a pandemic is that closure orders and social distancing is effective."

College football back then was already trying to field teams amid the lingering effects of World War I. There were restrictions on travel, practice and number of games played. The storied Army-Navy game was canceled in 1918 and the lone postseason game was the 1919 Tournament East-West game in Pasadena, California, a game better known today as the Rose Bowl.

The pandemic sickened players and coaches, shortened seasons and even forced some universities to scrap their seasons. On Oct. 13, 1918, The Washington Post carried a story that declared the epidemic "sweeping the country has dealt the death blow to necessary preparations, and with the stage still undetermined, the outlook is anything but bright."

Penn coach Bob Folwell, better known as the first coach of the New York Giants, was hospitalized with Spanish flu and missed six weeks during the 1918 season. West Virginia failed to field a team and at least one player died after a cold turned out to be the virus. The Missouri Valley Conference, which included Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri, shut down for the season. Pittsburgh and Michigan shared the national championship, though neither team played more than five games and all but one was held in November.

In September 1918, the second and by far deadliest wave hit in the U.S., the final blow for teams trying to schedule a full season. The headlines that followed included "Masks for Michigan Men" (Daily Pennsylvanian, Oct. 23) and "Rough Year For Football, But Game Shows Its Mettle" (Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 21).

"A lot of them closed up camp, especially once the second wave hit," Swick said.

The pandemic killed more than 50 million people worldwide, including 675,000 in the United States. Even with lower numbers in 2020, Smith said, fans will still be cautious.

"I think generally people are going to be more hesitant to return to stadiums today," Smith said. "I think there will be a certain segment of the population that is more concerned about a second wave. That's another lesson to keep in mind from 1918."

What were the TV contracts like back then?

 

[MWAVolfan]

What were the TV contracts like back then?

When you have 14 players on one baseball team ( a very non-contact sport) get Covid, it's not going to be good for a sport where it's your job to grapple with and tackle other human beings for 4 hours every Saturday.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

When you have 14 players on one baseball team ( a very non-contact sport) get Covid, it's not going to be good for a sport where it's your job to grapple with and tackle other human beings for 4 hours every Saturday.

Probably right, looks like everyone on the roster is going to get playing time this year then. Did baseball cancel because of it, I haven't heard that if so.