The 2020 college football has been in jeopardy for months, as the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be contained. However, on Monday, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported that the Atlantic Coast Conference was planning on proceeding with its season, according to a high-ranking source from within the conference.
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“[Canceling football in the next couple of days] could happen for some leagues,” the ACC official said. “I’m not sure it’s going to happen in the Atlantic Coast Conference. ... We are trying to move forward absolutely.”
The news of the ACC’s plans to proceed with the 2020 season have yet to be confirmed by the conference. However, they contrast with reports about the Big Ten and Pac-12, both of which were thought to be canceling their seasons. Reports to that effect were later said to be inaccurate, and it seems debate will rage on as to whether college football will be played in the Midwest and on the West Coast this year. But so far, no reports have indicated that the ACC is leaning toward cancelation.
That bodes well for the prospects of a Pitt season, which the team’s players and coaches advocated for via the #WeWantToPlay hashtag on Sunday and Monday. So in that regard, it seems that things are moving in the right direction for those directly involved. But with no plans set in stone just yet, Pitt and the ACC have yet to cross the finish line.
So far this offseason, two conferences and two schools have canceled their seasons, as the MAC and Mountain West and Old Dominion and UConn have all scrapped their plans to play in 2020. That means that, in total, 26 FBS teams out of 130 are off the board for the fall, and if the Big Ten and Pac-12 follow suit, that number will increase to 52.
