The college football season is suddenly on the brink of falling apart as 4 of the Power 5 conferences inch closer to canceling their seasons
- The college football season is on the brink.
- According to ESPN, commissioners of the Power 5 conferences held an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the future of college football.
- According to Dan Patrick, the Big Ten and Pac-12 are ready to cancel their seasons, while the Big 12 and ACC are on the fence.
- The SEC appears to be the only conference holding out.
- Just a few days ago, the same conferences were touting their schedules for the fall season.
After months of bluster and hopes of a miracle cure, the college football season is on the brink of collapsing.
According to ESPN, commissioners of the Power 5 conferences met for an emergency meeting on Sunday to address concerns about playing through the coronavirus pandemic.
Sources told ESPN that Big Ten schools are prepared to call off the 2020 season scheduled for this fall, and were gauging whether leaders across the other four Power 5 conferences were ready to follow suit.
According to Dan Patrick, the Big Ten and Pac-12 will cancel their seasons on Tuesday, while the Big 12 and ACC are now on the fence. Only the SEC appears to be holding out hope of playing this fall.
It's no surprise that the Big Ten is sounding the alarm, as six schools — Ohio State, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan State, Rutgers, and Northwestern — have already been forced to alter their offseason programs due to COVID-19.
The latest outbreak in the Big Ten happened at Rutgers, where 28 positive cases were found across the team after many athletes attended an on-campus party.
The change in tune from the powers that be in college football came quickly — just a few days ago, conferences were revealing their schedule plans for the fall season, with many choosing to eliminate out-of-conference games in favor of an entirely intra-conference schedule.
Instead, it now looks as though the 2020 season could be over before it can begin.
"Nobody wanted to be the first to do it," a Power 5 coach told ESPN, "Now, nobody will want to be the last."
Several smaller conferences and lower divisions of the college have already made their calls, with the Mid-American Conference announcing on Saturday that the fall sports season would be postponed.
While the call isn't official yet, the momentum seems to be moving towards a fall without college football.
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