As all sides look to salvage some semblance of a 2020 college football season, the Pac-12 is getting set to unveil its overhauled slate. Reportedly.
July 10, the Pac-12 announced that it is eliminating non-conference games this season and going with a conference-only schedule. That Power Five conference’s move came a day after the Big Ten made a similar announcement. At the time, it was expected the league would reveal its schedules no later than July 31.
With such a deadline a little over a week away, Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News is reporting that the Pac-12 is finalizing its scheduling plans for the 2020 football season. “The official announcement, with weekly matchups, is expected no later than the end of next week,” Wilner wrote.
And what will the schedule look like when it is unveiled? Again per Wilner, the Pac-12 is expected to go with a 10-game schedule, with each team playing its division opponents and five crossover games. As a backup plan, a nine-game schedule will be worked up as well.
Instead of Sept. 5, the 2020 season would begin Sept. 19. There are at least two bye weekends built-in, in case pandemic-related issues force the postponement of any contests. Additionally, three dates are under consideration for the conference’s championship game: the original date of Dec. 4 in Las Vegas, as well as the following two weekends.
It’s expected that at least the Big Ten will follow a very similar model as the Pac-12’s. The other Power Five leagues, the ACC, Big 12 and SEC, are also looking at schedules that consist mainly of conference games. Those conferences, though, are also considering at least one non-conference game. For example, there are multiple reports that Alabama, which was scheduled to open the 2020 season against USC, could open with BYU, which had its opener against Utah canceled when the Pac-12 went to a conference-only schedule.
The ACC, Big 12 and SEC are expected to announce its plans next week as well.
