(08-11-2020 08:50 AM)DukeThaDawg Wrote:  

(08-11-2020 07:27 AM)Potomac Wrote:  This ESPN article about will there be conference football this fall would lead one to believe the P5 is the only college football.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...-breakdown

Zero G5 conference decisions listed.

Because the sad reality is that ESPN only cares about their TV partners. They're only gonna promote the TV teams to the general public.

It's sad that the pushback from #WEWANTTOPLAY had to come from the Trevor Lawrence's of the world. From all reports the Big10 and Pac12 were ready to cancel on Monday, but they seemed to back off once the momentum, including a retweet from trump, of #WEWANTTOPLAY picked up steam.

What??? The kids at the G5 and FCS schools don't #WEWANTTOPLAY too?!?!? But nodody cares about that because there's not enough $$$

This is an article on The Athletic. It's a great perspective from Montana State HC, Jeff Choate about how unfairly the FCS, and specifically the players, were treated because the P5 used their leverage to corner the NCAA. How money, a lack of unity and a lack of leadership caused the cancellations. This is all about the P5 teams trying to preserve as much of their revenue as possible. In a way, that's to be expected---But it has come at the cost of much collateral damage to many others.

For those that have a subscription to The Athletic, it's a good read.
https://theathletic.com/1982034/2020/08/...t-in-flux/

Quote:
“It’s heartbreaking for our sport,” Choate told The Athletic. “Football only matters if you have money. The Power 5 commissioners and presidents backed the NCAA into a corner. The real tragedy here is we could not operate together in the best interest of our kids. It’s not whether we’re playing or not. The spirit of amateurism, which has been a fallacy for a long time, is totally gone now because we’re saying if you can afford to test your players at this level or provide for them at this level, then you can participate at this great game we call football. But if you can’t, then you’re less than. We’ve created a different caste system here.”

Choate also has watched in the past week as many student-athletes in the Pac-12, including several at Washington, where he coached at before coming to Montana State, proposed a player boycott if their demands are not met. Several of those pertained to greater safety measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. “All of the kids in the Pac-12 talking about opting out, this is a consequence of these kids being disenfranchised,” Choate said. “They keep getting jerked around.

“I feel like we’ve been supported by MSU — our president has been awesome — but at the 30,000-foot level with the NCAA, it’s unbelievably unfair how these kids have been treated. The decision whether to play or not to play should’ve been made a long time ago. Our kids aren’t summer-stipend kids. They don’t have cooked-to-order breakfasts that overlook Lake Washington, like we did at the University of Washington. Our kids don’t have that stuff. They work summer jobs. They sacrifice to be here and train with their teammates. The NCAA’s inaction cost them all of that — sitting here on pins and needles — sometimes not being able to work because maybe they were contact-tracing because of somebody else and so they had to sit in their apartment for 14 days. And it’s all because the NCAA refused to act and they were being bullied by the Power 5. That’s what this amounts to.”

The P5 may initially start a season, but that doesn't mean they'll be able to finish it. They may have the money to make it happen, but if Covid cases start to rise within the conferences and kids get really sick or worse, that is 100% on them.
IMO, the conferences that have cancelled the season are making the correct choice and putting players' health and safety a priority. The P5 is putting money ahead of safety. The players obviously want to play and of course they would fight for it. But if the risk becomes real and infection spreads as a result, that sentiment will change REAL fast.
I just don't think it's realistic for them to believe they can make it through a season in the fall completely unscathed. Perhaps they'll prove me wrong... but usually decisions that are not wise are fueled by selfishness and money.