You been watching?
‘‘Less crowds, less enthusiasm,’’ @JBIRD1268 commented.
You going to be able to keep watching for another couple of months?
‘‘No,’’ @Santamoniker replied. ‘‘Covid.’’
And if Illinois’ and Northwestern’s seasons survive the pandemic, which team will have more victories?
‘‘Northwestern will win more games and the Land of Lincoln Trophy,’’ @ChicagoStation wrote.
Hmm. We’ll see about that last one.
In this week’s ‘‘Polling Place,’’ your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we focused on college football. Much of the rest of the country has been playing for more than a month, but the Big Ten — whose teams are scheduled to play nine conference games in nine weeks — is only on Week 1.
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Big Ten football has arrived, weeks after games started in the Big 12, SEC and elsewhere. How much college ball have you watched thus far?
Our weekly @suntimes "Polling Place" returns with three college football questions! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) October 22, 2020
Q1: Big Ten football has arrived, weeks after games started in the Big 12, SEC and elsewhere. How much college ball have you watched thus far?
Upshot: A longtime college football scribe in the Southeast saw the way the vote was going and began angrily texting yours truly. “What the hell is wrong with you people?” he demanded. Just because we don’t sleep in Clemson pajamas or under Alabama bed sheets around these parts doesn’t mean we don’t care. It’s just that, so far, we, well, don’t seem to care.
Poll No. 2: How confident are you that the Big Ten — whose COVID-19 protocols include daily antigen testing for players, coaches and training staff — can pull off nine straight weeks of games as scheduled?
Q2: How confident are you that the Big Ten – whose COVID-19 protocols include daily antigen testing for players, coaches and training staff – can pull off nine straight weeks of games as scheduled?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) October 22, 2020
Upshot: Boy, these numbers are discouraging. But let’s at least try to look on the bright side. The NHL bubble went better than anyone could’ve expected. The NBA bubble did likewise. Baseball has reached the World Series with few major disruptions to its schedule. The NFL has stayed mostly on track. So … maybe?
Poll No. 3: If both teams play their full schedules, which will win more games?
Q3: If both teams play their full schedules, which will win more games?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) October 22, 2020
Upshot: Last year, the Illini were bowl-bound and the Wildcats were winless in league play as the teams took the field in Champaign for the regular-season finale. What happened? Team Purple won easily. With these teams, you just can’t really know.
