As the days tick by in this atypical year defined and diminished by the coronavirus pandemic, so too do the number of games on the 2020 Oklahoma football schedule.
With the Southeastern Conference becoming the latest of the Power Five conferences to announce it will not play any games outside of the conference and limit the regular season to 10 games, the decision by the Big 12, which has not come yet, has largely been made.
We now know that three of the Power Five leagues (the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC) will play 10-game, league-only schedules this season. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced this week that its members will play 10 conference games plus one game against a nonconference opponent, but that team must reside in the same state.
It is not a coincidence that the Big 12 cancelled its virtual Media Days event, originally scheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week, immediately after the SEC announced its plans for the 2020 college football season. Ostensibly, the Big 12 commissioner and the league presidents were anticipating a different decision from the SEC and we’re prepared to divulge the Big 12’s plans early next week, presumably during Big 12 Media Days.
Instead, that time will be utilized to go back to the drawing board and rethink the narrowing options that remain on the table.
In the case of Oklahoma, the Sept. 12 game with Tennessee is now cancelled as a result of the SEC decision to eliminate nonconference games. The Sooners’ cross-country, out-of-conference trip to upstate New York to play Army has been in question all along for obvious health and safety reasons.
The 2020 Oklahoma football schedule continues to evolve.
The Big 12 has been considering a plus-one option, and with only nine conference teams, the additional nonconference element would put the conference in scheduling parity with the other major conferences.
My guess is that the plus-one option is the direction the Big 12 will ultimately choose to go. If that in fact is what the Big 12 decides, the Sooners could keep their game with Missouri State and could even move it back a week, to Sept. 5, as originally scheduled.
Scheduling adjustments obviously will need to be addressed when the Big 12 presidents meet next week. Big 12 teams were scheduled to play four SEC teams and two from the ACC. With those games now deleted from the schedule, plus likely one other nonconference game, there will be sizeable scheduling gaps.
For example, Oklahoma is currently scheduled to open the season Aug. 29 against Missouri State, which it did to allow an extra week between games scheduled with Tennessee and Army as a precaution in monitoring the COVID-19 situation. With the Tennessee game now gone and Army likely as well, the Sooners would not play again until Oct. 3, when it opens conference play at home against Baylor.
"“We think it’s important we get the conference portion of our schedule absolutely right, then we’ll see what happens with the rest of it,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said on ESPN Radio on Thursday and reported by Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman."
If for no other reason, the resulting scheduling issues — now that the cards from the other power conferences are squarely on the table — are enough to cause a regrouping of Big 12 officials before coming out with a definitive plan of action. Likewise, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold a media event, at which the primary objective is to preview the coming season, when there is still uncertainty surrounding the schedule, the season start date and other COVID-related concerns.
It may be disappointing that the Big 12 has taken a backseat and let the other major conferences take the lead in how they plan to address the season amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns. But there are no awards in this case for being first, and every benefit from getting it right.
"“This is a very difficult time for certainty,” Bowlsby said. “Patience is in short supply. Sometimes leadership is embodied in the lack of action as opposed to do something forthright.”"
That cautionary approach has worked exceedingly well for Oklahoma, however. By delaying the start of voluntary on-campus workouts nearly a month later than many other programs, taking the extra time to learn and put in place the right protocols and procedures to protect the health and safety of the players and support staff, the Sooners have been able to go four consecutive weeks with no positive COVID tests.
Perhaps the wait-and-see approach will work out equally as well in protecting a football season for Big 12 teams.