SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey warned against patience and preached Monday on Twitter about ongoing efforts, as hopes for a school football season seem to be dying from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: ‘Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day,'” Sankey wrote. “@SEC has been deliberate at each step since March…slowed return to practice…delayed 1st game to respect start of fall semester.. …Deveoped (sic) testing protocols…We know concerns remain. We have never had a FB season in a COVID-19 environment. Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying. We support, educate and care for student-athletes every day, and will continue to do so…every day.”
The Big Ten is expected to cancel its football season in the fall of 2020 on Tuesday due to the pandemic, according to a report through the Detroit Free Press, there have been reports that a vote by college presidents did not take place Monday afternoon. The Pac-12 could soon meet a resolution to launch the season, according to several reports.
SEC college presidents scheduled a call Monday to discuss the latest developments, according to a Sports Illustrated report.
Players and coaches have opposed a possible cancellation, posting the game on social media.
The Big Ten has made adjustments to college athletics since the pandemic ended the scene in early March.
The Big Ten’s first Power Five convention that disrupts the rest of its spring sports seasons. The SEC, The Last Power Five Convention to Finish Your Spring Sports. The Big Ten is also the first convention to announce an exclusive schedule for the league, a resolution that was eventually followed by the other Power Five meetings (ACC, pac-12, The Big 12 and SEC).
The SEC has postponed the start date of pre-season football education to August 17, the convention announced on August 4.
The NCAA previously had outlined that teams were allowed to begin practice on Aug. 7, but the SEC chose to push back the start of practice by 10 days. That move followed the late July decision by the SEC to bump back teams’ season openers by three weeks to Sept. 26.
The SEC has opted for a 10-game convention calendar only in 2020, with the same previous calendar of 8 SEC games and 4 non-convention games.