The fate of the season now depends on where the remaining Power Five leagues land.
Foremost among the questions posed by the absence of the Big Ten and Pac-12 — which have been joined in opting out of the season by the MAC and Mountain West from the Group of Five — is whether the board of university presidents and chancellors would elect to continue under the playoff model while short more than a third of the typical FBS membership, or whether it would even be reasonable to do so under such conditions.
Given the money generated by the playoff, conference representatives could choose to move ahead as planned. However, doing so creates additional questions. Should the Big Ten, Pac-12 and two Group of Five conferences be able to play in the spring, as the leagues have said is a possibility, would they have the option of conducting their own playoff?
In a year without non-conference play, the selection committee could adhere to the existing guidelines and protocols or adopt a more linear approach of choosing from conference champions. Rewarding conference champions would achieve the benefit of minimizing confusion and anarchy during an otherwise tumultuous season — though come at the cost of removing the traditional debate and weekly rankings that have been a hallmark of the playoff era.
Within that question is another: With three Power Five leagues still in action, would the playoff use the fourth spot for a plus-one, at-large team or award the best team from the Group of Five conferences?
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Big Ten, Pac-12 postpone college football season due to coronavirus concernsThe Big Ten becomes the first Power Five conference to cancel its fall sports seasons due to the pandemic, despite calls from President Trump to allow college football to continue.
Read more »
Players and coaches we'll miss without Big Ten and Pac-12 football this fallWith the Big Ten and Pac-12 opting out of a fall college football season, here's a look at players and coaches from those conference we'll miss most.
Read more »
Big Ten, Pac-12 Postpone Football. Will the Rest Follow?The Big Ten and Pacific-12 Conferences both voted to postpone college football and other fall sports because of the coronavirus pandemic, ratcheting up the pressure on the rest of college football’s major conferences
Read more »
The Big 12 plans to play football in the fallA day after the Big 10 and Pac-12 conferences decided not to play college football this fall, the Big 12 conference on Wednesday announced it plans to play.
Read more »
It's game on in Florida as FSU and DeSantis vow to play footballFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis – an avid sports fan and former Yale baseball captain – is trying to persuade athletic conferences to continue college football despite the Covid-19 outbreak
Read more »
Pac-12 joins Big Ten in canceling fall football season because of COVID-19 concernsThe Pac-12 canceled its sports schedule through the end of 2020 because of the coronavirus crisis. The Pac-12 and Big Ten hope to hold football seasons in the spring.
Read more »