Skull Session: College Football Season is Basically Dead, There Isn't Really a Plan for What's Next, and Kevin Warren Wants Players to Just Go Light in Practice

The fate of the college football season ain't looking great, but don't worry, I've already developed a contingency plan.

pic.twitter.com/lmdMHoqK0I
— Kevin Harrish (@Kevinish) August 10, 2020

Word of the Day: Vehement.

PUT A FORK IN IT. It seems, based on many, many reports, that the 2020 football season is effectively dead at this point.

High-level conference meetings are being planned for this week across the college football landscape with the expected resolution of postponing fall sports until 2021, multiple sources have told Sports Illustrated.

“It’s gotten to a critical stage,” one conference commissioner told Sports Illustrated Sunday, after a conference call between the heads of the Power 5 conferences. “I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun.”

Dominoes started falling in earnest Saturday when the Mid-American Conference postponed fall sports. The Big Ten followed with an announcement that it was pausing its scheduled progression to full-pads football practices. A well-placed source told SI Saturday, “I think by the end of the week the fall sports will be postponed in all conferences.”

...

"In the next 72 hours college football is going to come to a complete stop,” one industry source said.

I've seen a lot of folks suggesting that Ohio State leave the Big Ten or join another conference if the Big Ten decides to cancel sports. That's fine and good, but that assumes that somebody is going to be playing football this fall, and that doesn't seem to be at all likely at this point.

I've ever the optimist, but you can only be so optimistic when your team is down three scores with four minutes left on the clock.

SOMEHOW, NOBODY IS PREPARED. I – the mediocre sports blogger – have been bullshitting online for months about what would happen if there isn't college football this fall, which apparently makes me more prepared for this situation than Power Five athletic directors.

"My view is if we change course, we better be able to articulate the reason for doing so to our student-athletes," he told ESPN

...

"No one has talked about a plan if the season is canceled," West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons, who is the chair of the Football Oversight Committee, told ESPN. "If it's canceled, we need to be able to give clear direction at that time, as opposed to saying, 'We don't know.'"

I get it, there are a billion things that you're going to have to address if you postpone the season, but this isn't exactly a situation that just suddenly came upon these athletic directors.

To have not even talked about a plan is... woof.

GO LIGHT IN PRACTICE. It would seem that the Big Ten has made up its mind, and the season is already silently canceled at this point. But instead of actually doing what he thinks must be done, it seems like Kevin Warren is just going to prolong the inevitable a bit, for some reason.

Source: Big Ten Presidents remain on the cusp of cancelling the season, but the league isnt ready to announce. The decision is close, but not final. Big Ten programs have been instructed by Commissioner Kevin Warren to essentially go light in practice tomorrow.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 10, 2020

Ah yes, "go light in practice" is going to go over extremely well to all the players across the nation desperately pleading that they would like to play the season you're about to cancel. Good look.

NAIL, MEET HEAD. A lot of players were sharing their thoughts on the season likely being canceled against their wishes, but future Buckeye linebacker Reid Carrico put it in terms anyone can understand.

This feels like grade school when you cant have recess because its too cold outside
— Reid Carrico (@CarricoReid) August 10, 2020

Same, Reid. Same.

A MODEST PROPOSAL. It's now quite clear that we are not going to have any sort of regular football season this fall, but it's also become extremely clear that nobody wants to play the season more than the Ohio State and Clemson players.

So I have a proposal.

If football is canceled, I think that Ohio State and Clemson should just play one massive pay-per-view exhibition game and split the money like a big boxing match.
— Kevin Harrish (@Kevinish) August 10, 2020

I'm going to be straight up, I would pay $100+ as a single individual to watch this on my TV, and I am extremely confident I am not alone in that.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Where is My Mind" by Pixies.