The college football offseason has been comparable to a roller coaster. There have been several ups and downs, twists and turns regarding the outlook for having a season. It seems like every boost of confidence is proceeded by gloomy statistics.

But Urban Meyer, who has labeled himself an eternal optimist, is increasingly confident that college football will happen this year. Even though optimism appears to be at an all-time low for the outlook of the sport, the former head coach-turned-analyst believes conferences switching to a league-only schedule is a step in the right direction.

Meyer is as confident as ever that football will be played.

“I’m back to yes. We’re going to play. We’re going to play,” Meyer said on FOX News’ Bill Hemmer Reports. “I’ve just got so much confidence the way these universities are handling this right now. I love the fact that we went conference-only, because they can have control over the protocol, and start-stop dates, etc. I’m optimistic right now.

“What really changed for me is the conference-only games.”

The B1G was the first conference to announce that decision, opting to play a league-only schedule this fall and eliminate the three nonconference contests each team had scheduled. It allows the conference to control testing policies, safety protocols and scheduling throughout the year.

Not long after the B1G made its announcement, the Pac-12 followed the same path. Currently, the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are still working on a full schedule for the fall.

Meyer isn’t quite convinced that every program, or even every conference, will play football in the fall. He is confident that there is college football in some capacity, however.

“I didn’t say every conference is going to play. I didn’t say every team is going to play,” Meyer said. “I said we’re going to play college football. I really believe that conferences, presidents, ADs, and the commissioner(s) are going to work together with the head coaches, and they’re going to work this thing out.

“I just have a lot of confidence in our scientists — the team doctors – I really do. I’ve talked to a few of my colleagues that I’m really close with and I really believe we’re going to get that done.”

No announcement from the B1G has come regarding what the updated schedule will look like. There’s a good chance there’s at least a slight delay from the original Sept. 3 start date.

Hopefully, Meyer is right. And if all we have to do is wait a few extra weeks to get football back, most of us would be pleased with that outcome.