The year is 2020, COVID-19 aka Coronavirus has basically taken over the general scene of things and decided to mess up all of the regular dynamics we are all accustomed to. From how we live our day to day, how we work, how we eat, everything is now different because of Coronavirus.
College football playoffs will battle pandemic headwinds
Sports, both professional and college have also taken big hits because of the Coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying to continue on with their seasons. With the college football season gearing up for their playoffs how will they try to outshine the global COVID-19 pandemic?
If there is something all football fans can agree on is that there is no better feeling than knowing that Saturdays are always for college football. Just like Sundays and Monday nights are NFL territory, Saturdays are all about NCAA football.
How will the CFP shape up?
Watching some of the best future NFL prospects duke it out for college glory has always been a must for fans of the gridiron sport. With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt in the majority of sports activities across the US, one must wonder how the always expected CFP will shape up, who will make it and even question the true validity of this year’s title given the conditions.
Given the conditions that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon college football, finding a way to shape up the season and give it the validity it deserves has been an uphill battle. At first the idea of not playing the season at all was put on the table but quickly taken away by colleges, coaches and players from across the country alike.
Many players skipping this season
Many players have also made the decision to opt out of this season and either prepare for the upcoming season or next year’s NFL draft. It is decisions like this that have made perennial powerhouse schools like last year’s champions LSU look like a shadow of what they once were. That still hasn’t stopped the season from continuing and giving us a picture of what to expect in the upcoming weeks with championship weekend coming up and selection Sunday almost upon us.
A strong initiative that has been talked about is for every team that ends up making the cut for the playoffs to continue with their own specific COVID-19 security protocols, ensuring that all teams can handle the situation in the best way they can. For example, while a team from the SEC, like No.1 ranked Alabama shows up they would continue with their 3 times a week COVID testing while No.3 ranked Ohio State hailing from the Big 10 conference would continue with their daily COVID testing.
While it would probably be in all of the team’s best interest to find a cohesive way to deal with the proper pandemic handlings and still put on a great showing for fans, that light is still a tiny spot in the horizon for most people. Talks of delaying the CFP games until February at least were also discussed but quickly disposed of.
Controversy
With the College Football Playoffs system, there has always been controversy about how it would be best run, and who each season has more merits to make the final cut. The CFP committee has been known over and over again for given preferential treatment to schools from any of the Power 5 Conferences (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12 and Pac 12).
In other words, if you are not part of the Power 5 posse it does not matter if you are undefeated and have God playing quarterback for you, there are bigger chances of you missing out on the playoffs that actually making it in, here’s looking at you Cincinnati! And now with also dealing with a pandemic, we can only hope that the best teams make it and that all conditions are met in order to have some great end of and beginning of the year football action.