COLUMBUS, Ohio – The scheduled Ohio State at Oregon game promises to be one of the biggest non-conference games of the 2020 season, if it can take place.
The IF is the major tipping point. College Football has not declared it is back at this date, but it also has not declared that it will be missing in 2020 either.
After a vote earlier this week by the Division I Council to open the way for schools to reopen athletic facilities for football as well as men’s and women’s basketball to voluntary workouts, there is a level of optimism that a season could take place.
On the other hand, it was only a couple of weeks ago when Oregon Governor Kate Brown threw a bucket of cold water on state residents declaring that sports would not be able to resume in-state “until we have a reliable treatment or prevention, like a vaccine”.
With September 12th rapidly approaching, fans of the sport are looking for any alternative, just in case Oregon is unable to host the game, with or without fans.
The question has been posed about flipping the dates of this game with Ohio State hosting the 2020 game and the return date in 2021 shifting to Eugene (Ore.) instead.
Ohio State Director of Athletics, Gene Smith, had his own idea on how to handle this, at least in a joking nature.
“We’ll just play both of them here, two years in a row,” Smith said during a mid-week conference call.
Smith and his counterpart at Oregon, Rob Mullens, have spoken some recently but the fan talk about moving the game is something only centered with the fans and has not been a topic of discussion between the two at this point.
“We did not talk about that scenario,” Smith said. “It’s the first time I’ve thought about it, so I’m not so sure I have a strong opinion on it, because we would be probably giving up a game next year in (2021), which would make it harder for us. I’m not so sure I would do that.”
Ohio State is scheduled to receive $300,000 for its trip to take on the Ducks. Any September game in 2020 will see either few or no fans in the stands, not an ideal situation for Ohio State if the game were shifted to Columbus (Ohio).
More than that, it just creates a problem with the schedule in 2021. Sure, it would give Ohio State three home non-conference games in 2020, adding to a favorable draw on the schedule.
In 2021, Ohio State would have only six home games throughout the season, with only four league games as part of Ohio State’s nine-game Big Ten schedule that sees alternating five/four (home versus away) splits.
Plus, Ohio State would be on the road for its first two games and would not have its home opener until September 18th against Tulsa. Ohio State is slated to start 2021 at Minnesota in a Thursday night game on September 2nd.
The 2021 schedule is already difficult enough with road games at Nebraska and Michigan on the schedule, and the computer did the Buckeyes no favors with putting Penn State in the slot the week before Michigan, a scheduling quirk that has drawn the ire of Ohio State fans in the past.
An alternative would be to only play league schedules, something that fans are largely lukewarm about.
Yes, some football is better than no football.
There are some obvious benefits for the schools when it comes to playing familiar foes.
“It would be easier for us to make sure that we have the safest environment for our student athletes if we just competed against Big Ten schools,” Smith said. “We are familiar with locker rooms, familiar with the hotels we are going to, we have familiarity with the travel operations we have to employ.”
No games have been canceled at this point in Division I (FBS), even if there have been whispers about the fate of Alabama/USC and other games. July appears to be a true decision date when it comes to some of these major issues.
For now, fans will just have to decide if they want to hold on to travel reservations but there are no guarantees that anyone will be allowed in the building or if the game will even take place.
