The COVID-19 pandemic has brought sports to a stop and closed colleges across the country. Now with the 2020 college football season in jeopardy, there might finally be hope for football to return this year.
The very thing athletic directors said needed to happen for college football to return is finally coming to fruition.
Opening up campuses
Texas A&M and Texas Tech tentatively plan to open their campuses for the fall the semester, according to The Texas Tribune. This week, Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec and Texas A&M’s chancellor John Sharp both revealed plans to bring students back to campus when the fall begins.
The decisions come just weeks after the College Football Playoff Management Committee told Vice President Mike Pence that college football wouldn’t happen until students returned to campus.
Now with the summer approaching, colleges are preparing to take the very step crucial to bring football back in 2020 and potentially sooner than some expected.
Students return across the country
The decision by Texas Tech and Texas A&M follows a line of schools making preparations to bring students back in the fall. Among them, the University of Oklahoma recently announced its plan to have students returning to campus in a few months.
As California and Oregon begin exploring plans to slowly lift stay-at-home restrictions, the University of Oregon is now making plans to re-open campus for the fall semester.
Roadblocks ahead
While there is progress being made toward college football return in 2020, there is still a long road ahead to its return. It’s expected that players would need at least six weeks to prepare for the 2020 season.
Even when players are ready for the season to start, universities might still need to issue restrictions on attendance. There is also the risk of a further outbreak of COVID-19, potentially even in the locker room of a top team.
If that happens, the NCAA might need to suspend the season as the NBA did when Rudy Gobert tested positive.
Universities making plans to bring students back is still a wonderful sign of hope for college football returning. However, things can change in an instant and there will still be plenty of work ahead to bring college football back.