BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 62,294
- Reaction score
- 18,974
- Points
- 113
per Marcus:
The state of Minnesota was brimming with college football success last season, when the Gophers went 11-2, Minnesota State Mankato reached the Division II championship game and Division III powers St. Thomas and St. John’s combined to go 20-4.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, nobody knows when the next chance to build on that momentum will be.
Forecasting when college football will return is as much of an inexact science at the Division II and III levels as it is for the Gophers and powerhouse Power Five programs like defending national champion Louisiana State.
“This is uncharted territory with no road map,” MSU Mankato athletic director Kevin Buisman said.
The Division II schedule already is shrinking. The NCAA passed a rule this week that caps the number of regular-season games each D-II football team can play at 10, down from 11 for several schools. The new rules also state that teams can qualify for the postseason with as few as seven regular-season games. These cuts also are being considered at the D-III level.
“The question becomes, what is a meaningful season?” said Cory Sauter, the coach at Division II Southwest Minnesota State. “As you dip below eight, I don’t know if that would be considered a season. That’s hard to imagine.”
Even if the University of Minnesota begins school in some form in late August as expected, college football games starting at the same time doesn’t seem realistic, Regent Michael Hsu said.
“There are a lot of schools that have said they want to do in-person classes, but you don’t know,” Hsu said. “It’s easier for smaller schools than bigger schools.”
In May, the NCAA approved temporary rules changes to allow football and basketball players to participate in summer workouts without being enrolled in summer school. On Wednesday, the NCAA took another step by allowing those players to be able to do voluntary on-campus activities starting June 1.
The Gophers aren’t sure what date they will have athletes return, AD Mark Coyle said. They are closely working on that plan with campus leadership and health officials.
In a normal calendar year, college football teams at all levels basically would have no offseason. Players would go from spring ball to summer workouts to fall camp. A “new normal” amid the virus crisis, though, is revamping the college sports landscape.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
The state of Minnesota was brimming with college football success last season, when the Gophers went 11-2, Minnesota State Mankato reached the Division II championship game and Division III powers St. Thomas and St. John’s combined to go 20-4.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, nobody knows when the next chance to build on that momentum will be.
Forecasting when college football will return is as much of an inexact science at the Division II and III levels as it is for the Gophers and powerhouse Power Five programs like defending national champion Louisiana State.
“This is uncharted territory with no road map,” MSU Mankato athletic director Kevin Buisman said.
The Division II schedule already is shrinking. The NCAA passed a rule this week that caps the number of regular-season games each D-II football team can play at 10, down from 11 for several schools. The new rules also state that teams can qualify for the postseason with as few as seven regular-season games. These cuts also are being considered at the D-III level.
“The question becomes, what is a meaningful season?” said Cory Sauter, the coach at Division II Southwest Minnesota State. “As you dip below eight, I don’t know if that would be considered a season. That’s hard to imagine.”
Even if the University of Minnesota begins school in some form in late August as expected, college football games starting at the same time doesn’t seem realistic, Regent Michael Hsu said.
“There are a lot of schools that have said they want to do in-person classes, but you don’t know,” Hsu said. “It’s easier for smaller schools than bigger schools.”
In May, the NCAA approved temporary rules changes to allow football and basketball players to participate in summer workouts without being enrolled in summer school. On Wednesday, the NCAA took another step by allowing those players to be able to do voluntary on-campus activities starting June 1.
The Gophers aren’t sure what date they will have athletes return, AD Mark Coyle said. They are closely working on that plan with campus leadership and health officials.
In a normal calendar year, college football teams at all levels basically would have no offseason. Players would go from spring ball to summer workouts to fall camp. A “new normal” amid the virus crisis, though, is revamping the college sports landscape.
Minnesota's college football forecast would be sunny, if not for those clouds
The pandemic has this state's Division II and III programs scrambling for answers, just like the Gophers.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!