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Report: NCAA approves ‘blanket waiver’ to allow more Week 0 FBS football games
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If college football teams participating at the FBS level want to move games up a week, they’ll have approval from the NCAA, according to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel.
On Tuesday, Thamel reported that the NCAA has approved a “blanket waiver” that will allow FBS schools to begin football games on Aug. 29, which was originally tabbed as Week 0 for the college football season. This approval comes as teams and conferences are looking for ways to play a season through the COVID-19 pandemic.
An NCAA e-mail obtained by @YahooSports issues a "blanket waiver" to allow all FBS schools to start on Aug. 29, known as Week 0. The waiver was requested by Football Oversight Committee and will provide "additional flexibility" for schools navigating this season.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 28, 2020
A waiver was reportedly requested by the Football Oversight Committee to allow for expanded flexibility for football teams and conferences throughout the season.
While conferences like the B1G, Pac-12 and potentially ACC are looking at a delayed start to the football season — Sept. 19 has been a rumored start date — the Big 12 has already seen two schools push up the start date of the season. Both Oklahoma and Kansas have scheduled games against FCS opponents that have been bumped up a week to Aug. 29.
It will allow certain teams to fit in an additional bye week at some point in the season in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, a game cancellation or other issues that could arise throughout the season.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB