Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said Thursday that the conference is set to quickly switch to alternative soccer scenarios in the event that a regular 12-game season can’t start on time due to the surge in the coronavirus.
That possibility seems to be getting more real every week.
“I was cautiously optimistic … but the past two weeks have changed everyone’s perspective due to the extent to which restarting the economy and loosening the restrictions has led to significant outbreaks,” Scott told the hotline.
“I still want to be cautiously optimistic, but if there are no changes in the response and behavior of society, resulting in a rapid flattening of the curve and a decrease in the spread of the virus, that would lead to a much more pessimistic view of our power to open campuses and our ability to practice college sports. “
Scott speaks “virtually every morning” with other Power Five commissioners, noting that the conferences have remained aligned in their prospects and planning for the fall.
So far, the Power Five have refused to set a “hard and fast deadline” to make a decision about the regular season.
“It could be in the next week that we make a clear turn, or within three weeks, whether it be in individual schools, conferences or collectives,” Scott said.
“Or we could just keep putting one foot in front of the other and things are starting to look better.”
The Pac-12 has modeled what Scott described as “very solid scenarios” for the season, including:
– Play all 12 games as scheduled
– A delayed start
– Schedules only for conferences
– Transfer the season to spring.
“We could earn a penny because of all the preliminary work we’ve done,” Scott said, adding that other Power Five conferences are having similar conversations internally.
And yes, there have been discussions at the highest levels of Pac-12 power, between presidents and chancellors, about the potential of some teams to compete this fall and others to close.
“There are scenarios where we move together as a conference,” Scott said, “and scenarios where not everyone can, but most can.
“To be clear, I am not saying that we will go in that direction. I just want to emphasize that we are seeing everything. “
Ultimately, the decision depends on the overall state of affairs on campus.
The Pac-12 has maintained throughout the sports shutdown that it would only deploy soccer teams in the fall if the campuses were deemed safe for student activity.
Scott’s cautious optimism in May was based on a series of announcements from Pac-12 presidents that they intended to open the campus, with many using a hybrid model of in-person and online instruction.
But the surge in coronaviruses in Arizona and southern California, in particular, has darkened the mood.
Arizona President Robert Robbins said last week that if current conditions persisted, he would not open the campus for the fall.
On Monday, the Wildcats announced that they had paused their re-entry process to soccer, the only Pac-12 program so far to suspend voluntary training.
The problem was not an internal outbreak: Arizona has evaluated 83 athletes, with only one positive.
(Those results reflect data from other schools.)
By contrast, Robbins was concerned about the increased prevalence of coronavirus in Pima County.
Unlike the NBA, college football shows can’t put their players in a bubble. The greatest risk lies in soccer functions, when they are on campus and in the community.
“There is increasing data to suggest that playing sports may not be as risky, given what we see in European football and some studies,” Scott said.
“The much bigger problem is what student athletes and all students do when they return to campus.”
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