Alabama Football: We still don’t know but Big Ten ‘if’ was a big word

B1G chooses conference-only schedule. ACC, Pac12 are expected to follow. SEC and Big 12 not far behind. What about Alabama Football?

Hopefully, Alabama football fans reading this will understand it is written without any satisfaction. Like college football fans everywhere, we want the Alabama Crimson Tide to play in 2020. It may well do that – if it follows the announced Big Ten plan of conference-only games.

We can debate whether protection from COVID-19 is lessened by playing nine or ten games, rather than the standard dozen. Many will choose to debate the perceived degree of risk of doing anything other than no games.

Even games without fans will require at least a few hundred and probably several hundred coaches, players, staff, television workers, security and medical personnel.

All of which seems to explain why the Big Ten said it is moving to a conference-games only schedule.  They also added a very small word with a big meaning. They said ‘if.’

"If the Conference is able to participate in fall sports … based on medical advice, it will move to Conference-only schedules"

No explanation is needed for what ‘if’ means. Fans are disappointed but mostly willing to be appeased by an 8, 9, or 10-game regular season. A few Alabama football fans don’t want the Crimson Tide season to open with a big game against Georgia. No Bulldog will be happy with that either.

Most, if not all of Power Five programs will suffer ‘if’ no games can be played. Stanford has already started budget-slashing by cutting 11 sports. It is unlikely any atheltic department is immune from such financial pressure.

Outside the Power Five group, the pain will be greater. According to the Indy Star,

"39 Power 5 schools scheduled 49 “buy games” for the 2020 season for a total of $65 million. UMass is scheduled to receive $1.9 million to play Auburn, which means if that game is canceled — when that game is canceled — UMass will be out nearly 20% of its $10 million budget for football."

Non-revenue sports will take the first hits but so will some college football programs.

Many fans just want games. Any games – with reduced capacities or without fans. There is also concern for players, coaches and support personnel for no-fans games.

Hopefully, non-partisan, expert medical opinion will prevail. It is naive to not admit money will also be a factor. Television dollars are not dependent on fans in stadiums. Seriously big money is involved.

Most players will probably be willing to accept the risk of contracting the virus. That is already happening with the NBA and MLS. So far, only a few players have chosen to skip summer games in Orlando. Two MLS teams dropped out after beginning workouts in Orlando. Some games have been canceled but others have been played. The NBA is not scheduled to start until July 30. The women’s professional soccer league in the U.S. has been playing for a couple of weeks.

How safe is safe enough to play? Some people believe the risks have been highly exaggerated. In some ways, it comes down to the choice of who to believe. For the record, UAB’s top infectious disease expert and Alabama football coach, Nick Saban, have been sharing almost identical warnings for a couple of months.