Big 12 commissioner concerned about opportunity to be playing full college football season

There’s still a lot of uncertainty circling around the 2020 college football season. Some believe the opening kickoff will be unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are concerned about the possibility of having a season at all.

Right now, there really are now answers about the prospect of the 2020 season, and whether the season will start on time, be delayed by a few weeks, shortened to only conference games or played at all. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby recently talked about the idea of having a full season, and he’s concerned about that opportunity.

“We don’t know when somebody is going to tell us it’s going to be OK to go back to close contact,” Bowlsby said, according to ESPN. “I suspect that medical experts and scientists are going to be slow to give the green light on that. The magic start date is probably a mirage.

“It may be different in some high-density populations and areas than it is in more remote areas,” he said. “It could be certain parts of the country and not other parts of the country. I don’t think there’s just going to be a day when we turn it all on again. There has to be a reacclimation period because athletes aren’t training at the same level they had been accustomed to.”

Recently, Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said the ideal date to have players back on campus would be 60 days before the first game. If players can get back in early July, the idea of playing a full season is still in the cards.

Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said he believes six weeks — while that may be stretching it a little thin — should be enough time to get kids in shape for the season.

Again, nobody knows what will occur in the coming months, but Bowlsby said he’s concerned about “whether or not we can have a full and robust football season.”