Roundtable: Options For Clemson Football In 2020

Take a 12-game, regular schedule out of the equation: the staff at AllClemson.com give the best options for what college football could look like in the fall

Take a 12-game, regular schedule out of the equation: the staff at AllClemson.com give the best options for what college football could look like in the fall

The best option would be for them to cancel the season altogether. If college football is not able to find a way to play a full season, either in the fall, spring or summer, then we as a nation have bigger issues with the COVID-19 pandemic. If they cannot find a way to play all 12 games, that means, either the virus has returned, we don't have a vaccine or something much worse has happened. I think that if the people who make decisions care about the student-athletes, fans and families, they will have to decide what is more important: money or lives. — Zach Lentz

College football without fans in the stands is like a BLT sandwich without the bacon. With that said, games without fans wouldn’t really be an option in my opinion. Talk of playing just a regular conference schedule is problematic as it would do away with key out-of-conference games and several rivalry weekend contests with major playoff implications. But perhaps it would be the best option for an abbreviated season. Of course, it would call for a little adjustment on the CFP committee and how teams are chosen. — Christopher Hall

If the COVID-19 pandemic affects the college football season and there's just no way to have a full slate of games, the next best option, in my opinion, would be to go with a 10-game schedule. Have the Power 5 teams cut two out-of-conference games, and if necessary, the bye week could even be cut. This allows the season to be pushed back a month or so with the least amount of disruption. It would come at a price, however, especially from a financial standpoint for the smaller schools that depend on those games, but unfortunately in this situation, there are no good answers. — JP Priester

This fall will give NCAA officials the perfect chance to test an expanded College Football Playoff. Since we were deprived of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, I say take the top 64 teams in the ESPN FPI preseason ranking and give us the "March Madness" we were unable to enjoy. Let officials form the four brackets and we can let the players settle it on the field. According to the rankings, Clemson would be the No. 1 overall seed and would face 64th ranked Duke in the first round. — Travis Boland

Assuming the virus concerns no longer outweigh the idea of playing some sort of season, the NCAA and conferences must make sure that players get an appropriate amount of practice and conditioning to play any games. If that means pushing the season back a couple of weeks, so be it. Fans or not, they should still try to get all 12 games and the conference championships in, as well as the CFP, even if December is greatly affected. If the bowl system suffers for a year, it'll be unfortunate, but the powers that be have to maximize profits to help athletic departments and keep player safety the top priority. — Brad Senkiw