https://www.si.com/college/2020/08/08/postponement-fall-college-football-season-mac-big-ten:
"Now? Many people around the sport are bracing for a decision that would be devastating both culturally and financially—a national postponement to spring, at best.
What happened? The closer we got to kickoff, the more misgivings have mounted. There was never a unified belief at the FBS level about how to proceed, and those fissures have become more clear as time went by and the data did not alleviate concerns.
'Almost everything would have to be perfectly aligned to continue moving forward,' NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline said Friday night on the association’s weekly Social Series.
Not much has aligned in recent weeks. From a national health perspective: COVID-19 infections soared through July, and deaths have correspondingly risen during August. From a local campus perspective: Colleges have been faced with the reality of trying to curtail athlete outbreaks in a non-bubble setting, while bracing for the return of the full student body en masse. Then there have been individual athlete testimonials about lingering effects of the disease, including heart issues;
the large-scale player movements within conferences that articulate their health concerns; and the dozens of players opting out of the season.
As one Power 5 source put it: 'I think the commissioners, presidents and ADs have just started looking around and asking, "What are we doing?’”'
The answer, now, is pausing. And in some cases backtracking. And perhaps ultimately a full stop."
