Austin Peay and Central Arkansas Set The Precedent for the 2020 CFB Season
As I sat down to watch the first college football game of the 2020 season between Austin Peay and Central Arkansas, I couldn't help but wonder if this was all just a dream or if it was really happening.
Last time we got to see college football, we witnessed a historic title run and national championship from Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers.
I scanned through the audience of 2,000 people who were all masked up, I had one question on my mind: Will this FCS matchup lead to a domino effect throughout all of college football?
We’ve seen high school football kick off the last two weeks in many parts of the country without too many issues, which begs the question: Why is everyone so up in arms about a football season happening? Is this not proof that it’s doable?
Despite what Darren Rovell, Dan Wolken, Mike Florio, and tons of other negative media personnel have said about the chances of the season happening, their negativity was finally put to rest on Saturday night.
There were moments where I myself even had some self-doubt about if the season happening, every day was a different mindset depending on what the blue check marks on Twitter were saying. It seemed as if every time some good news came out, the media would find something negative to shine light on.
Back in early August, Power 5 conferences held an emergency phone call to discuss the future of the season. After much back and forth from the conference commissioners, the Big Ten decided to postpone their fall season. A few days later the Pac-12 followed suit, and postponed as well.
Both these conferences had already released their schedules and fans were excited to get the chance to watch their favorite squads suit up for action. Teams like Ohio State and Oregon had a lot to prove after disappointing seasons. Ohio State fell short in the 4th quarter to Clemson in the CFB semifinals last year, and Oregon was upset by unranked Arizona State, causing them to be left out of the CFB playoff.
The two teams had a scheduled matchup on Sept. 12, in Autzen Stadium before COVID-19 hit.
Luckily enough for them, the NCAA approved guidelines back in June saying that even if a conference isn't playing this year, they can still work with players up to 20 hours a week. This includes six hours of walkthrough time as well.
So, no games, no season, but they can still practice. Where’s the logic in that? The players are still going to be around the facilities and one another. According to the Big Ten you can only get the virus from games, practices are just fine.
The lesson that can be taken from all of this, is to read between the lines when you see something on the internet. Don't always believe what you see or hear on Twitter or other social media platforms.
They’ll always be people out there trying to drag ideas down and spread negativity, but if you remain positive and optimistic, good things will happen.
Football is back and you can finally release all the built-up excitement that you've kept bottled up over the last few months.
Alabama's 2020 Schedule