Week of 7/6

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Here are the headlines that I have seen and read about in my daily search for College Football new…

7/10:

  • Just announced…The NESCAC has canceled all fall sports - which isn’t a big surprise since more than half the schools canceled their fall season. There is a possibility that there could be a spring season as the conference looks for creative ways to provide opportunities for their student athletes. Lets hope it happens because my favorite two Division III Conferences (Centennial) have now called off their 2020 fall sports.

  • One day after the Big Ten announced that they will be playing a conference-only schedule, the Pac-12 followed suit and announced their same plans for this upcoming fall. The Fighting Irish have now lost three Fall 2020 opponents in the last two days - Wisconsin, Stanford, and their big rival USC. Things might be quiet for a couple of weeks in regards to the other Power 5 Conferences since they won’t announce their plans until the end of July.

  • Tony Grimes, the top-rated cornerback for the class of 2021 who recently committed to North Carolina, got on social media today to report that he was going to reclassifying to 2020. He will now be joining the Tar Heels this fall, provided there are games to play.

  • Changes are coming quickly…..the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC - Division III) will now play a conference only schedule, which will knock two games off their season. Teams that come to mind from the conference…Delaware Valley, Widener, Lebanon Valley, Lycoming, and a favorite name of mine…Misericordia!

7/9:

  • After the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to cancel its football season (Centennial Conference - Division III was the first conference to cancel their fall sports), others are expected to quickly make the a decision - though maybe not an entire cancellation. It has started on the FBS level with the Big Ten announcing that they are moving to a conference-only football season this fall. Not only does it eliminate great games such as Ohio State at Oregon, Penn State at Virginia Tech and Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame at Lambeau Field, but it will have a devastating effect on Group of Five teams and FCS teams that depend on these paycheck games.

  • 247 Sports unveiled today the Pac-12 predictions of beat writers across the west. Oregon and USC were unanimous picks to win the North and South divisions, and the Ducks being unanimous winners over the Trojans for the title. After that the predictions were interesting as Cal was favored (not a heavy favorite though) over Washington based upon their number of returning starters. And in the other division, since Kyle Whittingham has to build the Utes up again, the Sun Devils were picked second behind the Trojans.

  • Florida and NC State announced today a home-and-home series for 2026 and 2032, as the Gators will venture to Raleigh first, and then will host the finale six years later. This will be their first regular season meeting since 1975. The Gators lead the series, that began in 1927, 9-4-1.

7/8:

  • Just reported (saw it on FBS Schedules), the Ivy League has announced that it is postponing their Fall 2020 sports schedules. More details later… added at 4:20 pm

  • Due to coronavirus concerns and potential scheduling conficts (unknown football and baseball schedules), Wrigley field won’t host this year’s Wisconsin-Northwestern game. It has not been postponed, so in all likelihood, it will now be played on campus at Northwestern.

  • Korey Foreman, the top rated player in the country according to 247Sports, has cut his list of schools down to seven. Since he backed out of his commitment to Clemson more than two months ago, USC has been the favorite to land him. But can Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, LSU ever be counted out, and what about Oregon swooping in and stealing him from the Trojans clutches if USC doesn’t win 10 games this year? The surprise team on Korey’s list? Howard University.

7/7:

  • The Ivy League will be making their announcement on Wednesday regarding their fall sports, but the Centennial Conference (Division III) canceled their fall sports season today. Time will tell if they are able to play football in the spring. If so, there might be a visit to Gettysburg in my future to visit the battlefield and catch a football game.

  • It was no surprise that Fordham canceled their game with Hawaii on September 12th because of no air travel for teams in the Patriot League (hard to get to the islands without flying), but I was surprised to see them cancel their Week 0 matchup with Stony Brook, as well as their Sept. 5th game against Bryant.

  • The 2020 State Fair of Texas has been canceled this year as coronavirus cases continue to spike across Texas, but currently the Oklahoma-Texas football game has not yet been impacted by the cancellation. The hope is that the game will be still be played at the Cotton Bowl, but there are no guarantees as the health and safety of all involved remains the top priority.

  • In some sad news, Jahneil Douglas, defensive lineman for the Toledo Rockets, was shot and killed outside of a pizza restaurant late Tuesday night. Douglas, a junior, was a communication major, and he had appeared in twelve games for the Rockets.

  • Ruffin McNeill, former head coach of East Carolina, has been hired by NC State in an advisory role. For the last three years he was an assistant head coach at Oklahoma until he resigned in January to help care for his father in North Carolina. I have also thought it was a mistake by ECU to let him go after he guided the Pirates to four bowl appearances in six years.

7/6:

  • I have to start by saying that this was a big day for my family as it was my youngest daughter’s birthday (picture of her in the About Tab) - as she turned 26! Love you Megan! It was also my parents 63rd Anniversary! We are both lucky and blessed that they can continue to say “Good Morning” to each other after all these years! We love you Mom and Dad - and Congratulations on another year together!

  • On a sad note, Bob Reade, who transitioned from a very successful high school program (Geneseo HS in Illinois) to Division III Augustana, passed away at the age of 87. After three straight state titles at Geneseo, he went 146-23-1 with four national titles as the Vikings head coach.