Pac-12 football now on track to return by late October

Pac-12 football can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

A whirlwind day in the Pac-12 boiled down to one crucial conclusion: The conference is now on track to start its season by late October.

“A source with knowledge of the discussions told me that with clearance at the local level in Cali and Oregon, it’s possible the Pac-12 can return as soon as late October,” tweeted ESPN’s Heather DInich, who had previously reported the Pac-12’s target for return as mid-November.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News set odds at 45 percent for an Oct. 31 restart.

The report followed a back-and-forth between the Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott and California governor Newsom that ultimately ended with both agreeing that California teams like USC, UCLA, Stanford and Cal were free to resume practices for the first time since March.

The Pac-12 has state-level approval to return to practice and play.

Reaching that conclusion was no easy thing.

First, Scott released a statement in the wake of the Big Ten’s return to play, indicating that the Pac-12 could not also make a comeback because of restrictions on practicing in the state.

Then, Newsom played dumb when asked about the letter USC football players addressed to him on Tuesday asking for restrictions to be lifted.

“I want to make this crystal clear. Nothing in the state guidelines denies the ability for the Pac-12 to resume. That’s been a misrepresentation of the facts,” Newsom said.

Of course, it wasn’t that straight-forward.

State health officials put their foot in their mouth when they suggested Newsom’s assessment was correct despite state regulations limiting players from gathering in cohorts of more than 12. The solution? Play five-on-five during practice. (That’s not a joke. Someone literally said that.)

The Pac-12 didn’t get out of the day without egg on its face as well. Oregon governor Kate Brown offered Oregon and Oregon State a waiver to practice and play after meeting with representatives from both athletic departments.

She threw the conference under the bus by claiming, “up to this point, we have received no written operating procedures for approval from the Pac-12 for the upcoming season under the new guidance, and we have no details from the conference about their new rapid testing proposal.”

If you’re keeping score at home, CA governor Gavin Newsom and his state health officials claimed teams in their state could practice if they just agreed to play five-on-five while the Pac-12 hadn’t even approached the state of Oregon to see if they could be granted a waiver.

Fortunately, after all the ridiculousness was out of the way, California, Oregon and the Pac-12 got on the same page. With Oregon’s waiver in place, Newsom followed suit in California. Scott released a statement looking ahead to getting county-level approval for practice. Everyone on the west can now breathe a little easier with the biggest hurdle towards a fall football season cleared.

Now more hard work begins to bring the Pac-12 back in time for participation in the College Football Playoff.