Kirk Herbstreit is obviously well connected to the world of college football, and he made waves earlier this year when he admitted he would be “shocked” if college football was played in 202o.

This week, the popular ESPN analyst and co-host of College GameDay was a bit more optimistic in his thoughts on the season. Herbstreit did admit that decision-makers in college football are reaching a deadline to make a decision, but a straight cancellation of the season would now surprise him.

“In about two weeks is when I think they’ll have to get to a deadline. By the end of July or early August, as much as they’re trying to push this thing down the road, they have to make the decision. If they say ‘hey guys, it’s too dangerous and there are too many risks. We can’t play college football this fall,’ … I would be surprised if they canceled (the season),” Herbstreit said Friday on “SportsCenter,” per 247Sports.

Instead of a cancellation, Herbstreit does believe it is possible that the season could be pushed back or postponed until the landscape is much better.

“I think they would keep postponing, keep pushing and hoping that at some point, the data starts to come down,” Herbstreit said during his appearance. “Because as you know, the data, it just about seems almost every day, is higher and higher.

“I think they’re holding on as long as they can, hoping that those numbers start to decline and go back to where we were 5-7 weeks ago. But I think a lot of us were optimistic at that point. A lot of us were optimistic, and then all of a sudden in the past four weeks, it’s just gone in a different direction.”

Hopefully, the numbers do start trending in a better direction around the country. For now, it will be interesting to see if the college football season is further impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.