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Member of NCAA’s COVID-19 advisory panel says it’s ‘unlikely’ there’s a college football season
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One member of the NCAA’s advisory panel for the COVID-19 pandemic does not think there’s much of a chance the college football can be played safely this year without interruption. In a story from the Detroit Free Press, Dr. Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins University believes it’s increasingly unlikely that football can be played in the fall.
Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, spoke with the Detroit Free Press about the likelihood of a college football season in the middle of the pandemic. Right now, based on the situation across the country and the issues at college campuses, he doesn’t think it’s a possibility.
“Earlier on, I thought there was ways to make it feasible until we started to see the flareups occur in some of the Southern and Western states, and we didn’t have that kind of pressure on testing that we’re seeing now,” Adalja said. “I do think it’s becoming unlikely that you’re going to have any kind of real season as we move forward in the fall. I think this is something that they could probably do in the spring. But I think right now, it’s getting close to the wire, and I would not be surprised if there isn’t any kind of football season.”
The MAC was the first FBS conference to take the leap and postpone all fall sports. The hope is to push those athletic seasons to spring, and try again with a truncated college football season as late as March.
Whether or not that’s possible is a different question entirely.
There are also whispers that there is momentum among B1G presidents to cancel fall sports, or at least delay the season until spring, as well. Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports first reported the news, though it’s unclear whether or not there’s enough support to make the move just yet.
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