SEC Announces Conference Only Schedule
In breaking news, the SEC has joined the Big Ten and Pac-12 in playing only conference games for the 2020 season. They will play a 10-game season that starts on September 26th.
The season would usually start on Labor Day weekend, so this will give member schools a little more time to prepare for the season and plan for travel. The conference championship game will be played on December 19th.
The rumors were swirling with the ACC going to an 11-game schedule, leaving one for non-conference games, that an SEC-ACC showdown was in the books. The SEC squashed any chance of that with their announcement.
Each team will play all six division opponents as well as four from the other division. The two division leaders will meet in the SEC championship game played in December.
NCAA Delays Football Vote
The NCAA decided to postpone its decision on the fall sports for 2020. The vote will occur in the first week of August after the board couldn’t agree on terms at the current time.
Even if the NCAA Board of Governors did decide to cancel fall sports, FBS football would still get to make its own decision. If the Board of Governors had decided to cancel the rest of the athletics besides football, it would have put coaches and administrators in a tight spot.
Notre Dame a One-Year Member of the ACC
The ACC will have an 11-game schedule with independent Notre Dame joining the conference this season. The Fighting Irish will be eligible for the ACC title game.
Everyone in the league would play a 10-game conference schedule and one non-conference game. The Fighting Irish have to decide on canceling a previously scheduled game against Navy, or Western Michigan. While not traditional, Notre Dame joining the league this season would make them arguably the second-highest favorite behind Clemson.
Big Ten Schedule Questions
The rumor is that the Big Ten will go with a bit of a different approach than the SEC. They are looking at starting the year on Labor Day weekend and allowing for a lot of open dates during the season if a team needs to quarantine.
It is unclear whether the Big Ten will go with a nine or ten-game schedule. It is looking as if the conference will look at putting the six inter-division games at the front of the schedule and have teams travel to face the other division’s teams at the end of the season.
The inter-division games would require less travel; therefore, it’s assumed they would be a little safer. The conference would like to eliminate as many plane trips as possible.
Rutgers and Nebraska make the close proximity games more difficult for both divisions as they are the farthest from the center in the conference. Whoever goes to Rutgers from the other division is going to have to fly, and the same goes for Nebraska. It will be interesting to see how the conference decides to do it if there is a college football season.
