No 2020 Season

[Furmanoid]

“Teenage boys get sick sometimes.” Now in my Top 10 COVID-19 quotes. Trump has a new one in my overall Top 10: “He didn’t go to my inauguration.”

So they don’t?

[Roundball]

Why wait? Must be bad news.

Come on Roundball, bad news is all the media cares about. I won’t listen to it if it is bad.

What does this have to do with the media? Sorry, but I don't buy into alll the crap about the media being all about bad news. That is fake news, driven by the extreme right wing conspiracy people. I see the glass half full and find plenty of good news delivered by the media on a daily basis.

Back to football, Brian McLaughlin, who eats and breaths FCS football, has another tweet saying the SoCon will meet again on Thursday to discuss conference only play, with the option for each school to keep non-conference games. Of course, that depends upon the Board of Governers electing to keep postseason play.

[apaladin]

Why wait? Must be bad news.

Come on Roundball, bad news is all the media cares about. I won’t listen to it if it is bad.

This not breaking news. They have said all along they would announce a decision on all fall sports, not just FCS FB on Wednesday. Jason Donnelly said on tonight’s sports that the SoCon did not rush any decision and wanted to get it right. He said that the AD’s have agreed on a plan that he believes will allow the SoCon to play fall sports. They present the plan to the presidents on Thursday. Unfortunately we know there is already one No vote before the plan is heard. JD also said they concentrated on conference play and getting it done in a timely fashion. Wouldn’t be surprised if the season is pushed back especially if the BOG eliminates the playoffs. I do think the SoCon will play ooc games unless the presidents end all hope. As for the BOG there is no need to cancel the FCS playoffs now as they can do that down the road if need be, BTW Covid cases have been down 6 out of the last 7 days in SC.

[apaladin]

This may be an indication the SoCon is planning on playing ooc games. The season opener between UTC and WKU has been pushed back to later in the season with a date tbd. Of course ED and company could nix everything.
https://fbschedules.com/2020-chattanoog ... postponed/

[The Jackal]

This is sort of the worst of all positions, I think, but consistent with what we see out of nearly every institution from the government to little league - we don't want to make the call, so let's lateral it off to other people to make the call.

I guess currently you have a situation where the FCS says "we'll have a playoff if you all want to have a season." The schools are saying "we'll have a season if you want to have a playoff."

So, it appears now the conferences will put it to a vote. I expect they will do the same thing and say they won't support a fall season, but each individual school can make its decision. They are probably all waiting on the others to do something first.

[Roundball]

FCS POSTSEASON: One Person’s Take On Today’s “News” https://herosports.com/college-football ... hlin-ajaj/

[AstroDin]

With the possibility of not playing for a national championship not happening this season.

I wonder if… a rising true senior like Devin Wynn takes a redshirt and comes back next season?
Furman has several others that are rising seniors and could take a redshirt; McKoy, Kearse, Clay.

[FUBeAR]

This is sort of the worst of all positions, I think, but consistent with what we see out of nearly every institution from the government to little league - we don't want to make the call, so let's lateral it off to other people to make the call.

I guess currently you have a situation where the FCS says "we'll have a playoff if you all want to have a season." The schools are saying "we'll have a season if you want to have a playoff."

So, it appears now the conferences will put it to a vote. I expect they will do the same thing and say they won't support a fall season, but each individual school can make its decision. They are probably all waiting on the others to do something first.

Seems to me that these pieces of the NCAA announcement will play an important part of the decision process..

* Member schools may not require student-athletes to waive their legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition of athletics participation.

* Member schools, in conjunction with existing insurance standards, must cover COVID-19 related medical expenses for student-athletes to prevent out-of-pocket expenses for college athletes and their families.

* If 50% or more of eligible teams in a particular sport in a division cancel their fall season, there will be no fall NCAA championship in that sport in that division.

The 1st 2 because this means the Lawyers & Risk Management peeps will have a good bit to say about the decision...

...and the last one because FCS has already ‘lost’ almost 1/2 of the eligible teams...By my likely flawed and probably over-counted teams still (possibly) playing is about 72...with about 53 already opting out...so if, what... 9 (or so) more Teams opt out...FCS can’t have playoffs.

...will be interesting...

[Furmanoid]

Maybe it isn’t a bad thing that they abdicated their decision making responsibilities. Perhaps decisions are better made at a more local level for this situation since different regions will be at different stages of epidemic, different regions prioritize sports differently and different regions have certainly shown different levels of anxiety about the disease. There’s no reason to think the 20 something people on the BOG had special insight that would generate the “right” decision for everybody.

I wonder about the eligibility accommodations. I’m all for giving guys another year of eligibility, but it can’t automatically mean another year of scholarship or the HS seniors would be hosed.

[Roundball]

"Which Playoff Eligible FCS Teams Are Currently In For a Fall Season?" https://herosports.com/college-football ... ll-season/

[Roundball]

[FUBeAR]

Some guy was on Twitter asking Sam about the status of the Ivies as “eligible.” He has not counted them as eligible in his math, so his denominator is -8 in calculating that 60% number...actually 60.2%. NCAA site says 125 are eligible. This guy on Twitter thinks that 125 includes the Ivies. Sam was unsure. So...let’s say he’s using 117 vs. 125 as his starting denominator...but then McNeese & SFA are not eligible...so that drops to 115....I think he’s counting 69 Teams as ‘in.’ ... but if that denominator should actually be 125-2=123 and we use the 69 ‘in,’...we’re @ 56%. ... only need 8 teams to opt out to kill Playoffs...and BTW...I think that 69 includes all PFL Teams...PFL is, in somewhat aligned with D3 Football...and D3 has already cancelled the Postseasons.

I would say the ventilator keeping FCS Playoffs alive right now is about to be unplugged....Hate it...bit that’s what FUBeAR sees.

Season...who knows?

[apaladin]

We will know the fate of the SoCon fall sports when the AD’s present their plan to play to the presidents tomorrow.

[The Jackal]

I agree.

I think if one more major FCS conferences announces a discontinued season (Big Sky, OVC, SoCon, Southland, MVFC), the whole bit is going to crumble.

McLaughlin had indicated there were four SoCon schools that appeared most interested in playing football. There are 9 football schools, so the implication is that the majority is less excited about that option.

Also worth noting that football is also just a piece of this. I think the SoCon sponsors half a dozen or more fall sports (volleyball, m/w soccer, cross country, football). So, I guess even non-football schools like UNCG might have a say in this.

[apaladin]

I agree.

I think if one more major FCS conferences announces a discontinued season (Big Sky, OVC, SoCon, Southland, MVFC), the whole bit is going to crumble.

McLaughlin had indicated there were four SoCon schools that appeared most interested in playing football. There are 9 football schools, so the implication is that the majority is less excited about that option.

Also worth noting that football is also just a piece of this. I think the SoCon sponsors half a dozen or more fall sports (volleyball, m/w soccer, cross country, football). So, I guess even non-football schools like UNCG might have a say in this.

Assuming those 4 teams are in I think WCU(Still has an FBS payday) Wofford(pro sports) UNCG(little to lose) could vote yes to play. FU(ED), Sammy and ETSU prolly not with FU prolly the only sure no vote.