Ivy League leading the way again
Everyone is aware of the standard of excellence that the Ivy League emanates when it comes to the world of academia.
However, it could be at the forefront of the collegiate sports world once again for the second time in four months.
Back in March, the Ivy League was the first to cancel its conference basketball tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic and within two days, every major conference followed as did the NCAA in pulling the plug on the March Madness tournament.
Wednesday, the Ivy League announced it will not play fall sports, and winter sports will not begin until Jan. 1 at the earliest.
The decision was expected as Harvard and Princeton had already announced that classes would only be online this fall.
This could lead to the Ivy League playing football in the spring, and the announcement to push the season on the gridiron back is expected to be a mere formality.
The belief is that the Power 5 commissioners are going to have their eyes on the decision, and don鈥檛 be surprised if there is a domino effect with the Power 5 conferences possibly doing the same.
It is well known at the top Power 5 academic institutions that a lot of university presidents consider Ivy League schools to be their peers as the level of research and expertise at the Ivy League schools is second to none.
The leaders at the top academic institutions in the Power 5 have been playing a waiting game on making a decision on collegiate football in the fall, and since the NCAA has all but washed its hands in making the decision on playing, maybe the Power 5 commissioners are waiting and letting the Ivy League lead the way.
There is no way that the presidents and the athletic directors at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools, formerly known as Division I, want to be the first to pull the plug on the season or to delay it until the spring semester.
Hence why today鈥檚 decision from the Ivy League could create the previously mentioned domino effect.
Will all conferences follow suit?
Possibly, but something tells me that the SEC is going to fight tooth and nail to play its season in the fall.
Heck, maybe everyone decides play.
The two biggest options discussed are trying to play in the fall or playing in the spring.
But one thing that I have not seen discussed yet is starting the season in the fall and getting as far as possible.
Then, if the season is postponed, the rest of the season could be finished in the spring semester.
One thing is for sure though and that is if the full season is moved to the spring, there will be a mass exodus of top players from teams.
A pair of quarterbacks, Clemson鈥檚 Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State鈥檚 Justin Fields, as well as Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons are three of the top juniors in the country.
Would they, or any other top players, risk injury and the potential loss of millions of dollars?
Could anyone blame them if they decided to not play if the football season takes place in the spring?
The top stars would not be the only ones who would not play.
The NFL has already announced that it will not move its 2021 draft from April, so seniors or underclassmen who are draft eligible would have big decisions to make.
Programs could be decimated if the season is played in the spring and would be a shell of their respective selves if they were to lose several top players.
However, that is not what is important here.
The Ivy has proven once again to be a harbinger in the collegiate sports world by making the decision to pull the plug on sports through at least this autumn.
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