Gary Stokan has become a matchmaker. The president and CEO of the Peach Bowl has to be in his position. Stokan is in desperation mode with the coronavirus potentially affecting his three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games in college football trying to figure out when and how to play his 2020 season.
Stokan went into action once Big Ten and Pac-12 decided earlier this month to play conference-only schedules. Those opening games without a conference at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium feature three high-profile contests in one week: Florida State vs. West Virginia (September 5), Georgia vs. Virginia (September 7) and Auburn vs. North Carolina (Sept. 12)
“Playing only conference games certainly doesn’t help us,” Stokan said. “When I saw that, I said, ‘I should work here to see if it’s possible.’ … We have three games to play. I don’t want to lose them.”
With all Power Five conferences seemingly tending toward a shortened regular season in the midst of COVID-19, Stokan said he “promoted” the idea of a “plus one” schedule to SEC, ACC, and Big 12 commissioners. Words, a standard conference is scheduled with an additional game without a conference. That would add up to nine regular-season games for the SEC and ACC. For the Big 12, it would be 10 games.
The “plus one” structure would preserve traditional SEC-ACC rivalry games this season on a limited schedule: Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, South Carolina-Clemson, Kentucky-Louisville, which would otherwise be lost in a conference -only format.
In that scenario, Stokan already knows that he could lose the state of Florida, West Virginia, Georgia, and Virginia from his initial storefront.
It’s a weird twist on subtraction summing that would allow Stokan to be that matchmaker, creating a pool of potential new opponents for the September 5 and 7 games. The Auburn-North Carolina game theoretically would not be affected.
Florida-Florida State and Georgia-Georgia Tech are obvious games that would affect the opening games. West Virginia and Virginia do not have a Power Five game without a comparable conference and could be matched in one of those starting games, Stokan said.
Stokan also said that the commissioners of the three conferences told him they will take his proposal “under consideration.” Interpret that however you like. Commissioners are trying to save their sport. Stokan is trying to save three games.
“While we are here today, what I believe from our conversations with the commissioner [Greg] Sankey, the SEC, the Big 12 and the ACC are on the same page regarding our collective desire to be patient before making any decisions, “Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said last week.” Look at some of the state’s residents. The rivalries that exist, especially between the SEC and the ACC, make sense that Clemson should play South Carolina, Georgia with Georgia Tech, and Florida with Florida State. Simply deleting those games because you want to play a conference-only schedule, at least at this point, doesn’t make much sense. “
Started in 2008, the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff is currently the oldest neutral site season opener in college football.
“You have to work; you have to promote things,” said Stokan.
The idea of ”plus one” is not exclusive to the NC State basketball player. Sources have told CBS Sports that both the Big Ten are Pac-12s that have at least considered adding a tenth conference game to their current nine-game conference-only schedule.
A Big Ten source told CBS Sports that his school received a list of five opposing league league opponents for a possible tenth game.
A Pac-12 athletic director told CBS Sports that his league is in a similar position. “I think we are closer to 10 [conference] games we are nine, “said the AD.
While the stated intention of the SEC and Big 12 is to find a way to play their full seasons, the realities of COVID-19 may make a shorter season inevitable.
“I think it is a real possibility,” said a Big 12 AD. “We are much more likely to be a conference [schedule plus one] Power Five opponent of what we should be [facing a Group of Five] opponent without conference. “
“If we get to the point where the doctors say, ‘You have two train wheels off the track and it looks like you’re going to have an accident,’ we’re going to listen to them,” said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby.
That means perhaps the Big 12 wait until early August when the players are actually practicing, Bowlsby said. “When we put on the helmet and pads, I think that gives you the best look of the season.”
Initial indications from the SEC and ACC were that the conferences waited until next week to make their decisions.
“You listen to 8 plus 1; you listen to 10 plus 1,” said North Carolina coach Mack Brown. “I have no idea what I’m doing with programming. [I’ll play what AD Bubba Cunningham] tells me to play. “
The Big 12 plays nine conference games as the only Power Five league with a turn schedule. The SEC and ACC play an eight-game conference schedule. Each of the 28 teams in those combined leagues had scheduled a Power Five conference-less opponent before the Big Ten and Pac-12 performance. (Notre Dame and BYU are considered non-conference Power Five opponents by those leagues.)
Alabama coach Nick Saban has long argued for his league to play with more Power Five opponents without a conference.
If the Big Ten and Pac-12 do nothing else, a schedule plus one for the other three leagues would at least give them a competitive advantage.
An additional Power Five game in a shorter season would possibly give the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 that extra “data point” for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee to consider.
One season plus one, the Big 12, for example, would likely hold two high-profile conferenceless games at Tennessee-Oklahoma and Baylor-Ole Miss.
That could be looking too far as a season seems less likely every day. There is a NCAA Board of Directors meeting on Friday during which, according to CBS Sports, the association may cancel all fall championships. That would include the FCS, Division II, and Division III playoffs. Some FBS sources are pressuring the board to wait.
The New Mexico governor on Wednesday asked New Mexico and the State of New Mexico to refrain from playing contact sports in the fall. Meanwhile, Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick told ESPN that he would like to see the season delayed and shortened.
Still, Yes If played a season, these three conferences would throw a middle finger at the Big Ten, which according to various sources surprised their Power Five counterparts by breaking ranks and going with a conference-only schedule early in the process without communicating their intentions.
“I think the Power Five are considering it, so the Big Ten decided they were going to jump,” said a Power Five AD. “For me, that was pure despair.”
Whatever happens, the process is developing in stages. Commissioners are trying to buy as much time as they can before canceling the season or moving it to next year.
The conference-only season, then, can be a “placeholder” for the public to assimilate before the next decision is made. Commissioners have already indicated that the start of the season could be delayed. It could also be played for two semesters, or perhaps be moved entirely to 2021.
For now, the Big Ten and Pac-12 are already facing criticism for breaking contract games without a conference.
“The question I haven’t answered is, how do you drop a set of games and then re-add games without encountering a breach?” Bowlsby said.
If there is a shorter season, the next question is when to start it. Neither Big Ten nor Pac-12 committed to a start date when they announced conference-only games. Specific times have also not been published.
Some Power Five conferences have already considered extending the window for playing games to 16 weeks, from August 29 “Week 0” to the conference championship games on December 19 (the date scheduled for the end of the regular season. it’s December 5.)
For example, the Big 12 has already verified the availability of the Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadium on both December 12 and December 19. Such a window would represent six open dates in a 10-game season when the postponed games could be recovered. .
Even if the start of the season was delayed until October 3, the first Saturday of the month, the championship games on December 19 would still provide a 12-week window.
“The Big Ten go alone to the conference, the biggest advantage is being able to start on time and spread the games,” Bowlsby said. “You have room for the makeup and stumbling blocks that you will inevitably have.”
Assuming a shorter season, adding a ninth or tenth game would provide more inventory for TV rights holders who have already taken a hit for the Big Ten and Pac-12 decisions.
“Games have to get to television more than anything,” said a Power Five AD. “If we can get those games, we wouldn’t lose that money. What we must be careful about is not putting our student athletes at risk just to participate.”
