[ad_1]
The days leading up to the start of what was supposed to be Alabama’s first spring practice in March now look quaint.
Before the walls of the COVID-19 pandemic completely closed on college sports, the biggest questions surrounding Tide’s 2020 season were more about football.
Then the spring training and the spring game were canceled. Non-conference games have been dropped and the start of a 10-game season, just for the conference, has been pushed back to September 26. Fall camp has been delayed from its usual start in early August until Monday.
As the thud of the pads soon picks up on the training grounds behind the Mal Moore sports complex in Tuscaloosa, bigger questions overshadow the typical talking points leading up to the season opener.
Conversations with friends, family and neighbors that started with “Hey, what’s Alabama like this year?” are now started by, “Hey, are we going to have some football this year?”
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the macro-level issues facing Alabama football:
1) Will there be football this season? That’s the SEC’s plan, and it was hard to miss how Tide’s athletic director Greg Byrne framed it as a ‘goal’ when speaking to reporters last week. . “We have tried to continue to be flexible, to be adjustable as things progress,” he said. “I think we’re going to continue to use this, need it, move forward. I think at the moment we have a target of September 26th. It’s a very well thought out plan and we’ll keep moving in that direction until we’re told we can’t. Byrne, much like SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, is careful not to over-promise and under-deliver. The cancellation of the Big Ten and Pac-12 fall seasons has already pushed the last three Power 5 conferences to the brink. Not only external factors with other conferences could force the SEC to reconsider its position, but the conference itself has put in place public health conditions that would cancel games this season.
RELATED: Projection of the Alabama depth diagram into the fall practice
2) When will the SEC release its calendar? It will come on Monday. The conference will unveil its Week 1 opponents at 2 p.m. CT, then release the full schedule at 6 p.m. CT. Because college football schedules are typically determined years in advance, this is a rare opportunity for the league to use its television network for a special NFL-style program. Alabama’s 10 opponents are already set; they will play each school SEC West and Tennessee cross division rival as usual. In addition, they will face the SEC opponent East, Georgia (home) and two other schools in the East, Missouri (road) and Kentucky (home). What remains to be determined are the dates of these games; there is no guarantee that the original dates of the games will remain the same, including for the Iron Bowl.
RELATED: Alabama AD Explains Risk, Myocarditis, And Other College Football Health Topics
3) Will fans be allowed at Bryant-Denny Stadium? Once the SEC released its schedule, Byrne said last week that the school would reveal its ticketing plans for the 2020 season, which will include just five home games against Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Auburn, the Kentucky and Georgia. Byrne reiterated last week that capacity will be “significantly reduced” at the Bryant-Denny Stadium, which has undergone an off-season renovation and is expected to be completed in time for the delayed start.
4) Will all Alabama players compete this season? It remains to be seen. The first consideration is COVID-19. Players will be tested at least twice a week and will need to self-isolate for 10 days if they are positive, and will need multiple clearances before returning to play. Additionally, any player who has close and sustained contact with an infected person must be quarantined for 14 days and cannot “test” quarantine by testing negative. On their own, these protocols could waste players’ time during the season. On top of that, the school is developing guidelines on how it will treat players who choose to opt out of the season. Initially, players will keep their purses. There is no deadline for when players must decide to step down, so minds could theoretically change by the start of the season.
RELATED: Alabama’s new and less familiar names to know in 2020
5) Will there be college football qualifiers? One potential piece of the puzzle in deciding whether or not to retire is the playoffs. After meeting virtually last week following the Big Ten and Pac-12 cancellations, the committee released a statement saying it was ready to move on this season. What would a January playoffs look like with just three Power 5 lectures this fall? “Coach Saban and I talked about it. I think there were discussions very early on, ”Byrne said last week. “As much as you wanted to have the next six months to figure out, it’s fluid. … I think this is something the CFP and the conference commissioners will have something to discuss in the weeks and months to come.
As for the polls, the preseason coaching poll, which ranked Alabama No.3, was released ahead of the Big Ten and Pac-12 cancellations. The Associated Press preseason poll will be released next week and all teams will be considered whether they play this fall or not. Then subsequent polls will only consider teams playing that fall, with a separate poll accompanying any spring season. The same logic will apply to the AP All-America teams.
Mike Rodak is an Alabama Beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on twitter @mikerodak.
[ad_2]
Source link