NCAA President Mark Emmert: 2020 college football season could look dramatically different

In a telephone call this week with Congressional leaders and several professional sports executives, NCAA President Mark Emmert outlined how the coronavirus pandemic may dramatically impact the 2020 college football season, according to reports detailing the meeting.

As teams in the Bowl Subdivision begin returning to campus following the NCAA’s decision to allow team activities to resume as of June 1, Emmert suggested that the upcoming season may end as early as Thanksgiving, months ahead of schedule.

Emmert also described the possibility that some teams in the 130-member FBS may not field a team this season, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who hosted the call, told Sports Illustrated.

Emmert said conference championship games could be played by Thanksgiving, Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, who was on the call, said to The New York Times. Emmert said he anticipated the season could begin around Labor Day as scheduled, should universities meet the regulations put in place, which could vary by state.

The NCAA does not dictate scheduling for college football. Nonetheless, Emmert's comments reflect how conferences and universities have struggled dictating regular-season scheduling months in advance without being able to predict the longer-range impact of COVID-19. Already, many schools have altered their academic calendars to end the fall semester around Thanksgiving rather than have students leave and then return to campus.

The possibility that not every FBS team plays in 2020 could throw conference and non-conference schedules into disarray with little time to find other opponents to fill space and have a substantial financial impact on non-conference games for athletics department funding — many teams on the Group of Five level draw seven-figure payouts for games against Power Five competition.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...158778001/