The SEC is not yet ready to give up on the idea of playing a full college football season.
Last week, the Pac-12 and Big Ten announced that they were going to conference-only schedules. The SEC had in-person meetings among their athletic directors and said they would not have further word until later in July.
Despite league commissioner Greg Sankey saying they need health trends related to the coronavirus to improve, he says they are still considering a full schedule for football.
“It is for us,” Sankey told Adam Schein in response to a question about whether a full schedule was on the table during an interview on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio Wednesday.
Sankey said they will see how things play out with MLB, which is not using a “bubble”-type setup like the NBA, and the NFL, which is set to open training camps soon.
“Our cues, candidly, are what our health circumstances, what state and local health officials indicate, what our medial advisory group indicates, the ability of young people to stay healthy during the on-campus activities we’ve been supporting since June 8, which has happened,” Sankey said.
“We always knew there would be positive tests. But can you identify, isolate, keep people healthy and then reduce the spread of the virus — which is what’s been happening. That’s the need, and that’s what we need in society, as well.”
Sankey believes there could be a situation where some conferences do not play, some play conference-only, and others play full schedules. The SEC is still hoping for a full schedule scenario.
