With the 2020 college football season set to kick off amid the coronavirus pandemic, players, coaches, and fans are all hoping to avoid “Hut, Hut, Spike.”
There’s no precedent for this. Unlike the professional sports leagues — where very well-compensated athletes were able to negotiate, via their unions, the terms of their participation and safety protocols before resuming play — student athletes are at the mercy of their individual schools and conferences. For the governing officials in the Big Ten and Pac-12, the risk was deemed too great, and the conferences decided to cancel fall sports, although they’re facing pressure to reconsider and resume play in October. The SEC, ACC, and Big 12 decided to go on with a revised schedule, as have most of the smaller FBS conferences, with the exception of the MAC and Mountain West, who hope to play in the Spring. All told, 54 of the 130 FBS teams have decided not to play this fall.
The ramifications are significant. Several top NFL prospects from the Big Ten and Pac-12 have already decided to opt out of the season to get ready for the draft. The Big 12 has been forced to postpone three of its games this weekend, while #21 UCF postponed its opener against Florida International all the way back on August 13. Like so many issues around the pandemic, there are no easy answers or clear solutions. We’ll just have to wait and see.
As the Big 12 and ACC get underway this weekend, here’s a full schedule of the college football games available on Sling, along with the current Top 25 rankings.
| Away Team | Home Team | Time (ET) | Channel |
| Syracuse | #18North Carolina | 12:00 PM | ACCN |
| Louisiana | #23Iowa State | 12:00 PM | ESPN |
| Charlotte | Appalachian State | 12:00 PM | ESPN2 |
| Eastern Kentucky | West Virginia | 12:00 PM | FS1 |
| Arkansas State | Kansas State | 12:00 PM | FOX* |
| Duke | #10Notre Dame | 2:30 PM | NBC* |
| Georgia Tech | Florida State | 3:30 PM | ESPN3 |
| UTSA | Texas State | 3:30 PM | ESPN2 |
| Campbell | Georgia Southern | 3:30 PM | ESPNU |
| Austin Peay | Pittsburgh | 4:00 PM | ACCN |
| The Citadel | South Florida | 7:00 PM | ESPNU |
| #1Clemson | Wake Forest | 7:30 PM | ESPN3 |
| Tulane | South Alabama | 7:30 PM | ESPN2 |
| UTEP | #14Texas | 8:00 PM | Longhorn |
| Western Kentucky | Louisville | 8:00 PM | ACCN |
| Coastal Carolina | Kansas | 10:00 PM | FS1 |
| SMU | TCU | Postponed | N/A |
| Louisiana Tech | Baylor | Postponed | N/A |
| Florida International | #21UCF | Postponed | N/A |
| Marshall | East Carolina | Postponed | N/A |
*Games may be restricted based on market
*Indicates a team not scheduled to play this fall
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