Will the SEC, ACC play football in 2020? 9 experts’ predictions and what’s at stake
The fate of the college football season for the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences will likely be decided this week.
The ACC is expected to publicly reveal its format and possible starting dates for the 2020 football season. ACC presidents are scheduled to meet Wednesday.
Regularly scheduled calls between SEC athletics directors, and presidents and chancellors, will happen this week, the league said. The SEC presidents meeting is Thursday, 247Sports reported. It’s possible that’s the day the league finalizes its plans for a 2020 season.
Both leagues have teased “late July” as the probable deadline for making a decision, though it’s at least possible another delay could come. Football teams’ preseason camps are scheduled to begin next week.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has forced all conferences to determine how fall sports can proceed, if they move forward at all. The Pac 12 and Big Ten have announced plans for conference-only seasons, while the Big 12 has yet to make a decision about its seasons.
Below, nine of McClatchy’s SEC and ACC beat writers predict what will happen this week and discuss what the months ahead might look like.
Auburn Tigers
Will there be a 2020 season? Yes
Final thoughts, predictions: I’m optimistic we’ll have a season, yet not entirely sure what it will look like. I see both conferences going to a conference-only schedule, but still trying to make the notable non-conference games like FSU-Florida and Georgia-Georgia Tech happen. Auburn plays North Carolina in Atlanta in Week 2 and I’m expecting that game to still take place.
I’m interested to see what schools do with regard to fan attendance. Schools like Auburn rely a lot on football ticket sales. Football is one of only two Auburn sports that made a net profit last fiscal year, and that had a lot to do with ticket sales.
It’s safe to say that Auburn’s administration is confident that a season will happen: President Jay Gogue said both fall classes and football will happen on the Plains this year in an admissions greeting video to the university’s incoming freshman class posted May 6. We’ll soon find out whether the SEC shares that optimism.
What’s at stake for Auburn: Bo Nix enters Year 2 with a new offensive coordinator (Chad Morris) and a new starting running back, regardless of who wins the job. The defense will experience growing pains replacing big names like Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson, but with Kevin Steele at the helm, the unit shouldn’t miss a beat. And again, the impact of football revenue on the university’s athletic department can’t be understated.
— Joshua Mixon, The (Columbus) Ledger-Enquirer
Clemson Tigers
Will there be a 2020 season? I’m still slightly optimistic that there will at least be the start of a season.
Final thoughts, predictions: While I believe there will be a season, I don’t think it will start on time for most schools, and I have doubts that it will be finished. It seems that all schools are taking the pandemic seriously now and places like Clemson, where there were bad breakouts early, have gotten numbers under control.
That is encouraging, but keeping players from getting the virus with a limited amount of students on campus has been a challenge at some places. It will be even more of a challenge once campuses start filling up with students returning for the fall semester.
There is so much money at stake and athletics departments rely so much on football revenue that I believe every effort will be made to have a season. Ultimately it depends on how much players are willing to adhere to safety protocols, avoid parties and bars, and isolate themselves from potentially dangerous situations as to whether or not a season is started and finished. Fans will also play a big role in what happens. Clemson is rolling out a campaign encouraging fans to wear masks to stop the spread of the coronavirus throughout the state and community.
What’s at stake for Clemson? Clemson has arguably as much at stake as anyone in regards to there being a season. If the season is canceled or postponed until the spring, that could mean the end of the college careers of All-Americans Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne (who could opt to train for the NFL instead). Clemson has also avoided staff furloughs and any discussions about canceling any sports at this point, but that could change without a football season.
— Matt Connolly, The (Columbia) State
Duke Blue Devils
Will there be a 2020 season? Yes.
Final thoughts, predictions: Duke has been extremely cautious from the start of this pandemic, with school president Vince Price deciding to shut down Duke’s athletic teams even before the ACC canceled the basketball tournament in March. Duke was the last school in the league to allow athletes back on campus for workouts this summer. So far, the return has gone well as, unlike schools like Clemson and North Carolina, there haven’t been widespread outbreaks. But Price will be quick to shut things down again if he believes safety is an issue.
With all this uncertainty, I can foresee a season full of stops and starts. Whether it’s Duke pulling the plug on a game during the week leading up to it or another school having an outbreak, the odds are high that we’ll have an interruption to whatever schedule format the ACC implements.
What’s at stake for Duke? Unlike other schools, Duke doesn’t rely on football revenue to support its athletic department since basketball provides so much income. Still, the football team looks primed to return to a bowl game this season. Transfer quarterback Chase Brice arrived from Clemson to play for David Cutcliffe in hopes of getting ready for an NFL career. A fractured season could cost him that opportunity.
— Steve Wiseman, The (Durham) Herald-Sun
Georgia Bulldogs
Will there be a 2020 season? Yes.
Final thoughts, predictions: I believe the SEC will go in the direction of a conference-only schedule and allow programs to retain in-state rivalry games. We have to wonder, however, if that’ll hold up. There are programs across the country that already have suspended workouts because of COVID-19 issues.
We all want this to happen. For the financial ramifications it holds, the chances are high of some sort of season happening. There are plenty of concerns around the logistics of it. It is tough to do a bubble system within college football, so we don’t know how the travel could affect older staff members or players with pre-existing conditions. The SEC has said it will honor scholarships for players who choose to opt out of the season, but there’s no union, representation or monetary incentive to play.
Overall, I see a season happening. It won’t be without concerns or have normalcy, however.
What’s at stake for Georgia? For Georgia, this is another chance at a championship run. Most of the nation’s top defense was returning, and not having a season would jeopardize that. Georgia also welcomes two transfer quarterbacks into the fold, both of whom were eligible this season. Financially, it remains to be seen how an altered season affects the program. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said the program has two different drafted budgets — one with football and one without.
— Brandon Sudge, The (Macon) Telegraph
Kentucky Wildcats
Will there be a 2020 season? Yes (for better or worse)
Final thoughts, predictions: My guess is that the SEC, in concert with the ACC and Big 12, forges ahead with a “major conference-only” schedule that allows for those leagues to play one another in addition to their previously scheduled league contests. This would preserve existing in-state matchups (UK-Louisville, South Carolina-Clemson) and allow teams to fill their slates with an additional conference game or two that they would otherwise lose due to saying “See ya” to the MAC and Sun Belt lambs with whom they’ve previously made agreements.
It’s likely that COVID-19 forces the postponement and/or cancellation of some contests, but ultimately the powers-that-be, I think, would rather deal with those on the fly then cough up the massive amounts of money they’d lose by surrendering the season outright. I think it’s possible that these three leagues could go a step further and coordinate a schedule that calls for reduced travel among them by grouping their teams together (Texas A&M effectively returning to the Big 12 for a season, Florida State becoming a de facto SEC East member, etc.). And if we’re going to insist on playing, I’m of the opinion that we might as well get crazy and do something like that anyway.
What’s at stake for Kentucky? It figures that the Wildcats, coming off their fourth straight winning season and with most of their starters back on both sides of the ball, face the possibility of not having a season. They’re not an outright contender in the SEC East, but they’ve got a roster that could make it to Atlanta if everything fell into place the right way. Of course losing a season’s worth of football revenue would be a disaster, as it will be for any university that’s gotten into bed with the ATM we call “major college football,” but UK is a bit more financially sound than others, at least.
— Josh Moore, The (Lexington) Herald-Leader
Miami Hurricanes
Will there be a 2020 season? There will be a beginning. Then, depending on the team, the season will start to fall apart at various points.
Final thoughts, predictions: The major conferences have made it clear: They plan to play football despite the COVID-19 pandemic. My feeling is the season will be delayed, but there will be a start. However, I can’t see it finishing the way they hope it will. We already know the ACC is planning various models, and will announce some sort of resolution, at least for now, after the league presidents meet Wednesday. The season will surely be interrupted for multiple teams as players get sick and are isolated — and their “close contacts” are quarantined for at least 14 days. It will not be an equitable, conventional season for FBS teams, and thus will create problems for the College Football Playoff and bowl system. I’m sure they’re also trying to figure out possible options.
What’s at stake for Miami? Miami, a private school with a significantly smaller alumni base than state schools such as Florida State and Florida, could lose millions of dollars, likely resulting in layoffs and the cutting of other sports. The team has hired a new offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and receivers coach to implement a no-huddle, spread system that it had a chance to practice only four days of spring before the campus was closed. Players such as highly touted grad transfer quarterback D’Eriq King, and other draft-eligible athletes, would likely opt to skip any possible spring season to prepare for the NFL Draft. Finally, the health of the players will surely be at risk.
— Susan Miller Degnan, The Miami Herald
North Carolina Tar Heels
Will there be a 2020 season? No
Final thoughts, predictions: While it makes sense in the world to plan and prepare as if there will be a season, and leave that door open as long as possible, there’s enough evidence already that maintaining the kind of bubble professional sports can at a neutral site isn’t possible on college campuses — and that’s before students return from all over the country.
The reality is, our best chance at some semblance of a college football season was all but lost back in April and May, when the decisive action taken in March was squandered by a tepid national response and states opening up too early. College sports, football and otherwise, can resume amid the pandemic before there’s a vaccine, but only when the virus is at a much lower prevalence and easier to test, trace and track.
You want college football? Wear a mask and don’t spend any more time than you have to indoors or around big groups of people. That’s the only thing that can save the season.
What’s at stake for North Carolina? Mack Brown has the Tar Heels rolling on the recruiting trail, and they have the potential to take a huge leap forward on the field as well. With Sam Howell at quarterback surrounded by weapons, North Carolina has the potential to be an explosive offensive team with a chance for a breakthrough season.
— Luke DeCock, The (Raleigh) News & Observer
NC State Wolfpack
Will there be a 2020 season? Against better judgment, I think the leagues will find a way to have a college football season.
Final thoughts, predictions: The good news for N.C. State athletics is that only five positive COVID-19 cases were reported earlier this month, and we aren’t even sure how many, if any, were football players. That’s a great sign if they want to get back on the field. I imagine that after a forgettable 4-8 campaign a year ago (one ACC win) the Pack will be eager to play again, just to put the 2019 season in the rear view mirror.
Head coach Dave Doeren named a day one starter at quarterback, redshirt sophomore Devin Leary, so there will be some stability at that spot coming into camp, unlike last season. No matter what the schedule looks like, Leary, an older Bam Knight and an experienced offensive line should equal a better offense for the Wolfpack, who ranked 12th in the ACC in total offense (22.1 ppg) last season.
The problem is, with limited chances to get reps in the spring, how will the offense look under new coordinator Tim Beck, who came to N.C. State from Texas this offseason?
What’s at stake for NC State? This is a big year for Doeren. Expectations were already high in 2019, even while breaking in a new quarterback. The Wolfpack’s five straight bowls streak came to an end. The 2020 season will happen through unique circumstances so stakes might not be as high, but another underperforming season will heat things up in Raleigh.
— Jonas E. Pope IV, The (Raleigh) News & Observer
South Carolina Gamecocks
Will there be a 2020 season? No, not in 2020 — or at least not finishing in 2020.
Final thoughts, predictions: All efforts will be made to play football this fall. There’s simply too much at stake. But in the past few days alone, entire teams have lost two-week stretches to COVID-19 quarantine. That’s with campuses mostly empty. Simply put, the regulations at this point are going to make finishing a season in the fall highly difficult. But with the amount of money, jobs and maybe the structure of the sport in the balance, there will be extreme pressure to get in as many games as possible whenever they can happen. Does that mean an extended season? Does it mean some football in the spring? Perhaps. But getting through even an abbreviated season in the normal time frame is going to be an incredibly tall task.
What’s at stake for South Carolina? To start, a lot of money. The school reported more than $65 million of football program revenue in 2018-19, and that’s without considering football-reliant revenue or donations categorized as “non-sport specific” or the effects on the annual SEC payout. For Will Muschamp and the coaching staff, the uncertainty and potential of losing non-conference games likely means a projected do-or-die season won’t have near as much riding on it.
— Ben Breiner, The (Columbia) State
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 12:25 PM.
