Paul Finebaum throws cold water on college football season starting on time

Paul Finebaum expressed pessimism about college football starting on time.

ESPN’s college football insider extraordinaire Paul Finebaum is singing a different tune than many athletic directors around the country, as he views the likelihood of a 2020 college football season that starts in late August rather improbable.

While players are back on campus, the sport has seen a disturbing number of positive COVID-19 tests, adding pessimism to the idea that practices should continue nationwide, or that games can be played in any facet. This comes just days after the NCAA extended the recruiting dead period through Aug. 31.

Paul Finebaum believes college football season will be delayed.

With states such as Texas and Florida seeing such a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases after reopening earlier than some experts suggested, the concept of playing professional sports anywhere in the vicinity of, say, Gainesville or Austin is out of the question at the moment. While this is only a small subset, nearly half of U.S. states are currently experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 cases as well, albeit at a less concerning rate than those previously listed.

Professional sports is a welcomed distraction, but putting amateur athletes at risk goes against much of what the NCAA claims to be about. A distinct lack of leadership, or a clear protocol, makes any sort of planning virtually impossible as we continue fighting this pandemic, which Finebaum brings into the spotlight.

This isn’t to suggest there aren’t adults in the room, but the many voices — all of whom have differing opinions based on the financial hit a delayed 2020 season would have on Universities nationwide –makes this process even tougher than usual.

As Finebaum correctly states, there is no true commissioner figure in college sports, preventing one clear plan of action. Rather, the conferences, athletic directors and even college sports’ governing bodies are all forced to come to a consensus, which is an impossible scenario given the rapidly-changing landscape of the pandemic.

In this case, Finebaum’s pessimism is warranted.

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