There are few options for making up Alabama-LSU with half the SEC season already playedGETTY IMAGES
The SEC has lost its "biggest game of the weekend with the postponement of Alabama-LSU in what has been a challenging week for the conference," as Auburn-Mississippi State was postponed on Monday, and Texas A&M-Tennessee also was postponed yesterday, according to John Talty of the BIRMINGHAM NEWS. There are "multiple other games including Missouri-Georgia still in jeopardy, as well." The loss of Alabama-LSU is a "blow for CBS which loses a highly-anticipated game that would have delivered big TV ratings following a lead in from the third round of the Masters Tournament." Now, CBS will "no longer air an SEC game on Saturday" (BIRMINGHAM NEWS, 11/11). CBSSPORTS.com's Dennis Dodd wrote the "count now stands at 52 FBS games this season that have been canceled or postponed." That is "approximately a full Saturday of games for all 127 teams playing this fall." However, on the surface, that "shouldn't be a surprise," as 10 of those games were "lost last weekend at the same time COVID-19 cases were spiking in 43 states." Still, when it happens in the SEC, as they say, it "just means more." Considering current events, along with the arrival of winter and the flu season, college football's "battle with the coronavirus is going to get more contentious" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/10). ESPN's Paul Finebaum said, "Think about that LSU-Alabama game being scrubbed. ... It's a body blow, at least, to the image of the SEC" ("Get Up," ESPN, 11/11). In N.Y., Alan Blinder writes taken together alongside the "swell of virus cases around the country, the postponements were piercing reminders that the season could be derailed one week at a time" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/11).
RESCHEDULING LOOKS DIFFICULT: The LSU athletic department in a news release said that an "opportunity to reschedule the game 'will need to be evaluated' and 'may include' Dec. 19 as a playing date." But in Baton Rouge, Brooks Kubena notes postponing the game for that date "will be difficult," as that is the "same day as the SEC championship game." The league "could still possibly rearrange the dates of other games to make room." But with half of the season already played, there were "few options for rearrangement" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 11/11). ESPN's Heather Dinich notes the 14 SEC ADs have agreed that Dec. 19th "should be used as a makeup date for any games that had to be canceled during the season." The presidents and chancellors "still have to approve that, but everyone in the league unanimously agreed that that should happen" ("College Football Live," ESPN, 11/10). In Baton Rouge, Scott Rabalais writes the SEC "needs to do some major schedule juggling to get this game in." Nobody "wants to play regular-season games the day of the league’s showcase, but the integrity of the regular-season schedule should be important enough to make that work." Plus, LSU’s department, "like athletic departments everywhere, is strapped for cash," so "every ticket dollar counts" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 11/11).
TIME FOR A CFP BUBBLE: USA TODAY's Dan Wolken writes the CFP has "held firm that no matter what develops over the next six weeks or so, its semifinals will take place on Jan. 1." But as COVID-19 cases "rise exponentially around the country, a winter surge that is presenting even greater challenges to the college football season than we’ve seen at any point, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the CFP is taking a massive risk here." As such, it is "time to start talking about a bubble." There are "going to be more" positives, "practically every week from here on out." Wolken: "So, why isn’t the CFP moving to aggressively ensure that the crown jewel of its season won’t be derailed by an issue popping up at the last minute or a Playoff team suddenly falling below the thresholds to play on its last round of tests before getting on the plane?" Other than "contractual issues with the Rose and Sugar Bowls, ESPN and the significant costs of putting together a bubble, it’s truly mystifying." At this point, the goal of the CFP "should be to do whatever it can to ensure the games get played and avoid any scenario where there’s an outbreak on one of the semifinal teams that would lead to a forfeit." Without a bubble, there are "too many variables in play." If college football officials "truly haven't been planning for one now, they would be wise to start" (USA TODAY, 11/11).
