Alabama Football: Will COVID impact the College Football Playoff?

Can Alabama football persevere another wave of COVID?

Since the end of the 2019 season, COVID has impacted college football. It hurt the NFL Draft process in 2020 and 2021. The 2020 season was played with limited fans in attendance, and DeVonta Smith won his Heisman Trophy virtually. Last year, Alabama football had to persevere.

While they had a few cases, Alabama never had to postpone a game because of their own outbreaks. They handled the pandemic better than almost any team in the country, and that played a part in carrying the Tide to the College Football Playoff.

As 2021 comes to a close, COVID is still impacting everyday life for millions of Americans. In the sports world, cases are skyrocketing once again due to the Omicron variant. Multiple NFL games had to be postponed, and some coaches and athletes are catching COVID for the second time. Even with booster rates rising, COVID seems to be impacting the sports world once again.

While there are more important things regarding COVID than how it impacts college football, the fact remains that some teams may struggle with cases on the rise. With holidays here and players traveling, anything could happen. Will COVID impact the College Football Playoff?

For Alabama football, the players are doing everything they can to stay safe. Saban reported that 90% of the team received booster shots, and the Tide are adding old protocols to avoid the potential spread of a breakthrough case. While this can be strenuous on the team, the good news is that it will be temporary. The season is less than a month from being over, so players know that they only have to do this for a few weeks. That should help with the temptation of breaking protocols.

Still, COVID-19 can impact any team. We’ll have to keep up with reports as the weeks continue, but anyone could catch the disease. However, the teams that prepare for it will have a better chance of persevering on average.

Other teams are dealing with these concerns. Whoever has the best plan to protect players will have the best chance of playing with all starters, and that seems to be the Tide at the moment.