AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco said the conference is "planning for the unknown" in the event the upcoming football season is affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Joseph Duarte of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Aresco yesterday said that the AAC "remains hopeful the football season will be played as scheduled, but admits the uncertainty over the coronavirus" has "led to behind-the-scenes discussions of 'worst-case' scenarios that include everything from an abbreviated schedule to cancellation of the entire season." Aresco called it "pointless" for him to speculate on how the crisis could affect the football season. But he said, "We still have time. We're working on scenarios and what kind of deadlines we might be facing." Duarte notes many around college football "believe a decision on an initial timeline for the football season would need to come by June." Aresco's comments "echoed those of Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and others recently." Bowlsby said that games played without fans or an abbreviated or canceled football season were "all on the table in his conference because epidemiologists have not yet been able to rule out the potential of a COVID-19 'reoccurrence'" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/31).
VARYING OPINIONS: ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit drew headlines over the weekend for casting doubt over whether football would be played this fall. ESPN's Rece Davis said he is "far more optimistic and more hopeful" the sport will be played, as Herbstreit's prediction is a "little bit premature at this juncture." ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said, "The NFL will find a way to have games. They've got the cache monetarily speaking to do a lot of things." ESPN's Max Kellerman: "If Kirk's premise is right, that we need a vaccine in order to get back to life as normal ... then he may be right" (“First Take,” ESPN, 3/30).
