PDX to JAX wrote:

I'm curious: Is there any media groundswell out there in Eugene and Portland about revisiting football for the fall? With the BIG-10 potentially changing course, I have heard nothing about the PAC-12. Nothing from Scott. Nothing from Wilner. Little from Canzano. Lots of lamentations from Goe.

I'm an Oregon democrat in most things. I am sick that this whole issue is getting politicized. Of course Trump is pandering in the midwest, because Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin are huge states in the upcoming election. I think two things make football possible in the PAC-12 this fall, but it would take the CEO group swallowing their pride and reversing course:

1. These new rapid saliva test kits are cheap (I have heard the figure $5.00!) and agile. We can test and isolate athletes the morning of contests.
2. The opt-out option preserves eligibility and gives the power to the athlete. Ten UCF players, including two starters and a really good backup QB, just opted out! More than fifty top players whose teams are playing in the fall have opted out. The athletes have control, so they can make that choice and come back in the fall. 

I would fully expect a number of critically important PAC-12 players to opt out if the season hadn't been canceled. I think all sports should be back on for the fall in the PAC-12, with limited audience access (20%?) and stringent protocols. An SEC coach made the statement that athletes opting out of football are opting into the pandemic. I can't say it's eloquent phrasing, but I see his point: these athletes have better care and oversight than the average college student.

I hope the CEO group at least meets to discuss what might happen if the BIG-10 jumps back in. It's just bad for the conference to be shuttered while these teams are on display in the fall. 

The only sport I am crazy about is college football, and to not have a season is crushing. However, we are seeing a significant rise in cases as colleges reopen. Many have started, and then shut down. There is nothing more important than the health of the student-athletes. Until there is a safe and reliable vaccine, I just don't see how anybody can play. While I do feel for kids caught up in this lousy situation, I also feel for the over 187,000 people dead, and their families and friends. We shall see, but I can live with no football this year if it means keeping kids safe, even if those kids are willing to play.

I appreciate the thoughtful responses, ORG and Jiffy Jeff! It's a complex issue, to be sure. Very glad these institutions and the NCAA have done the right thing and allowed these athletes to avoid competition without losing eligibility. I don't think the CEO group will reverse course, and it will make for a strange fall.

But the other side of the coin is intriguing. If the PAC-12 plays in the winter/spring, the exposure would be off the charts. They would be the only game on...