The Options for a College Football Return and their Impact on BYU Football

The last two weeks were filled with bad news for the eventual return of college football - what are the options left on the table?

Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde wrote this morning about the mounting hurdles to a college football season. They note, "College athletic leaders are having serious doubts on an on-time start to the 2020 college football season, or if a fall season is even possible at all." Forde and Dellenger report that the final decisions for the college football season must be made by the first week of August. As time runs out, what are the options still on the table for a college football return and how does that impact BYU?

“Two or three weeks ago, I was cautiously optimistic that if things kept going well, we’d be able to start on time and play a full season,” says Larry Scott, the Pac-12 commissioner. “But things haven’t gone as well.” 

First and foremost, "officials are hopeful enough that the Oversight Committee is continuing deliberations as if a fall season will unfold, while also employing a working group for the possibility of using contingency plans that have long been vetted and discussed." Here are the three contingency plans that Dellenger and Forde laid out:

1. Delaying the season deeper into the fall, with a cut-off point of mid-October

Of the three contingency plans, this one is probably the best-case scenario for BYU. The Cougars will be left scrambling should conferences decide to shorten the season and play a conference-only schedule. Delaying the season by a month with a full schedule would be a positive outcome.

2. Playing an abbreviated season of only conference games that would likely begin later than Labor Day

Like I mentioned above, this would not be an ideal outcome for BYU. BYU would be forced to schedule fellow independents like UMass, Liberty, Army, New Mexico State, and UConn. Everybody would clamor for an agreement with Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish could potentially play their five scheduled games against the ACC this season and fill the rest of their schedule with ACC teams.

3. Move the season to the spring

For a variety of reasons, this is the last resort. PAC-12 commissioner, Larry Scott, "called it a 'fallback' plan, and many other officials think of it as a last resort, as it poses dozens of problems. College stars may snub the season for the NFL draft, football will clash with other on-campus spring sports and the 2020 offseason would shrink by five months."

"There is also an inherent gamble in the move. Officials would be betting that conditions for playing will be better then. Sankey cautions in making such a critical decision based on predictions of a novel virus. While doctors can guarantee strides in medical technology and testing advancement by next year, no one can predict the disease’s evolution, Aukerman says. But when given the choice of no season or a spring season, “Why in the heck would you not play in the spring?” asks one Group of Five athletic director. If there is a spring season, one P5 AD anticipates that it will not be a full 12-game schedule but would be six to nine games." - Ross Dellenger & Pat Forde

If this happens, it's unlikely that BYU fans would be able to watch Matt Bushman or Khyiris Tonga suit up for the Cougars.

Dellenger and Forde recognize that "each plan presents problems. Any delay may dramatically reshuffle schedules and push the season deeper into the traditional winter months of flu season. A conference-only schedule could pose problems for independents, like Notre Dame and BYU, and would cost Group of Five programs millions of dollars in the loss of guarantee games with Power 5 schools."