The Pac-12’s decision to resume fall football meets mixed reception from players
By George Pritchard ‘23
On Sept. 24, the Pac-12 conference officially announced its intention to play a fall football season after initially suspending the season in August due to COVID-19 concerns.
On Aug. 11, both the Pac-12 and the Big 10, two of the five major college sports conferences, cancelled all athletic competitions for the rest of 2020. The Pac-12 stated that, although the decision might be unpopular with fans and players, it was necessary due to the safety risks associated with COVID-19. The conference said, "Our student-athletes, fans, staff and all those who love college sports would like to have seen the season played this calendar year as originally planned, and we know how disappointing this is."
However, on Sept. 24, Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement that the Pac-12 would resume the football season, beginning Nov. 6, with each team playing a seven game, conference-only schedule. Football is the only fall sport that will be resuming, and there will be no fans at any of the games or events for any teams.
Oregon State and all other Pac-12 schools will start their season Nov, 6
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
This announcement was what fans have been waiting for. Catlin Gabel School (CGS) sophomore Josh Wiltz, an avid University of Oregon football fan, said, “I am ecstatic for the start of the Pac-12 football season.”
The question on many fans’ and players’ minds in regards to this announcement is, why now? The Pac-12 seemingly took the safe route in August, but have gone back on that decision. What changed for the presidents and chancellors to believe it was safe?
According to the conference, a large part of it was due to their partnership with Quidel, a rapid testing program. “The arrangement with Quidel will provide for frequent testing with rapid results, which had been one of the key concerns in the prior decision by the Pac-12 to postpone sport competition,” the conference said in a statement.
However, some players and analysts believe that the conference may have motives other than just the health and safety of the players.
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt spoke about the long term on-field implications, when the Pac-12 wasn't planning on playing. “I think it’s gonna set [the Pac-12] back light years as it relates to competitiveness in regards to college football,” he said. He also spoke about how the conference is already behind in regards to recruiting, and how a lack of a season would harm that.
UCLA’s (pictured) and all other stadiums will be empty for the whole season.
Photo courtesy of Pikist
Another factor in the Pac-12’s decision was money. Despite not having any fans at games, the conference will still be receiving at least $66 million from the College Football Playoff just from playing a season, and that figure doesn’t even take into account the revenue from broadcasting the games.
Despite the Pac-12’s rhetoric being solely focused on the health and safety of everyone involved, their actions could be seen as driven by ulterior motives, namely money and future recruitment.
And the players took notice.
Many players decided to opt out of this season, either over concerns about the virus, or to focus on their NFL futures, including Job Dockery, Oregon State University sophomore receiver. He described why he chose to opt out of this season.
“The fact that we are having a season shows that we should also re-open all the schools because athletes’ lives are at stake if we’re playing contact sports,” he said. “Everything seemed so rushed and every answer that suggested that we do have a season, they tried to force it.”
As of Sept. 26, at least a dozen players had opted out across the Pac-12. So, despite the majority of fans celebrating the resumption of the season, the reaction on the players' side appears to be a bit more reserved.