Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football show where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.
A lot has happened in the college football world in the last several weeks with some schools and conferences canceling or postponing the season, citing health risks of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are carrying on. It seems like things are constantly changing, and it can feel impossible to keep up.
But that’s OK because we’re here to help. Here’s a quick guide what’s going on with college football, specifically the Power 5 conferences, as the season starts.
Big Ten and Pac-12
Despite both major conferences previously planning on conference-only schedules this year, both decided in early August that football will not be played this fall. They are, however, hoping that they’ll be able to bring football back at some point in 2021 — but there are some obvious issues with that concept as well.
SEC
The SEC is going forward with a 10-game, conference-only schedule, and it’s set to begin the week of September 26.
ACC
The ACC will play an 11-game schedule: 10 conference matchups and one nonconference game, which has to be played in the home state of the ACC school. It’s scheduled to start playing September 10.
Also, Notre Dame finally joined a conference, but it’s temporary. The Fighting Irish will compete in the ACC for the 2020 season only, and they will be eligible to play for the conference championship should it finish with one of the top-2 winning percentages.
The ACC championship game will be either December 12 or 19.
Big 12
The Big 12 is doing something similar to the ACC. It’s planning on a 10-game schedule with nine conference games and one outside. The nonconference game must be played before September 26, when everyone’s conference schedule is set to begin.
The Big 12 title game is scheduled for December 12.
