Pac-12 football is back on for 2020, too little too late
On Thursday, the Pac-12 CEO group voted to play a limited college football season in 2020. Where does the conference go from here? And is it too little too late?
Thursday, the Pac-12 CEO group, comprised of member university presidents and chancellors, voted to play football this fall. The decision reversed their previous ruling in September to cancel all Pac-12 athletics through January 1, 2021.
None of us regular people were even close to the decision-making process. But you can bet some of the schools involved were dragged into this kicking and screaming. Because athletics isn’t a big deal. Supporting a bunch of big jocks is certainly not why we have a university. The heck with all the money we will lose. As we wrote last week, it appeared that everyone wanted Pac-12 football, except the Pac-12 itself.
In the end, the CEO group caved to public and political pressure. Beginning November 6, there will be football played at six conference schools in front of tens of thousands of empty seats.
Too Little
Add in the Pac-12, and it means all five Power 5 conferences will play football this fall. The SEC, ACC, and Big 12 never wavered. Last week, the Big Ten reversed their decision not to play and will begin on October 24 with their eight-game 2020 schedule. Aside from being almost two months late, the Pac-12 will only get in seven games this year.
The Atlantic Coast conference began playing ball two weeks ago. Last week the Big-12 started, and the SEC kicks off this weekend. With only seven games, beginning well after everyone else, how does any Pac-12 team stand a chance of making the College Football Playoffs?
Let’s use USC as an example. The Trojans run the table, win the Pac-12 Championship game and finish 7-0. Would they expect to make playoff over a 10-1 Oklahoma or LSU? If a two-loss SEC team wins the Conference Championship game, forget about it, USC would be entirely out of the picture, despite the undefeated record.
Not better late than never
By the time the Pac-12 gets to playing football, the rest of the sport will be several weeks into the action. It’s almost like blowing off a wedding and then realizing important people will be there. You buy a small gift which isn’t on the registry because there’s nothing left. On the big day, you show up nervous because you really screwed this up, and everyone knows it. They are polite, but treat you like “thanks for showing up, nice gift, have a piece of cake.”
When it comes time to chose teams for the college football playoff, voters will remember. All these other Power 5 schools played more games over a longer period, and the Pac-12’s token gesture doesn’t cut it with us.
Everyone who cares about Pac-12 football is excited the sport will return, but it still feels like a hollow victory. By the time conference teams start playing, all that’s left to play for is the pride of a six-state area.
What do you think about the Pac-12’s return to college football this fall? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.