Big Ten football: 3 reasons returning this fall is a good move

2. Spring football was not going to work

With daily, rapid testing in place, Spring football starts to make less sense. However, even with the development of a vaccine, do not expect life to return to normal for the general public any time soon. In a recent interview with MSNBC, leading expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has said,

"“By the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccinations, and you get the majority, or more, of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen to the mid or end of 2021.”"

He goes on to say,

"“If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality which resembles where we were prior to Covid, it’s going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021.”"

Remember that even the Spanish Flu began in March 1918 and continued well into 1919.

Assuming that the US tries to initially give priority to those who are most at risk, college students figure to be towards the latter half of those who will receive the vaccine. Given the lax response to the virus already by many in that age range, this could be likely. Campuses could still be hotspots.

You might want to adjust your expectations because we appear to be in this for the long haul.

Those who want to wait until next year will likely find that 2021 will look a lot like 2020. Playing football in the spring would then be merely an attempt to keep the lights on in the athletic facilities while hoping for a subsequent fall season. However, coaches are still unsure whether players’ bodies can handle two full seasons in the same calendar year.

Recruiting might also start to be affected once the precedent of Spring football has been set as uncertainty is sure to linger into next year.

At least now the Big Ten can stay on schedule while also playing for the chance of a national championship.