Looks like college football is about to make more big moves.

We’re just through the first cycle of games between schools that decided to start the season on time, and already there are stories ranging from whether the Big Ten is going to start in October, the Pac 12 trying to find somewhere without smoke hovering over West Coast fields and the defending national champs going for herd immunity.

There really hasn’t been much to convince Big Ten presidents to change course; yes, the ACC and Big 12 played a game and so far no positive cases have been reported. Do you really believe what some Big 12 schools are telling you, anyway, from the wild, wild Midwest?

The worse news comes from a program that won’t play a game until September 26, if that soon. LSU coach Ed Orgeron revealed that most of his team has coronavirus, but apparently no one seriously; Eddie O expects all to be healthy for the opener against Mississippi State.

Just from what’s going on in the deep south states, LSU might have adopted the Clemson method: party-hearty on holiday weekends, everyone gets sick and then becomes immune, or at least for 90 days, according to the latest CDC prognosis. Sure doesn’t look like it hurt the ACC Tigers’ preparation at Wake Forest the other night.

Meanwhile, the rankings and even bowl projections have begun to trickle out. Despite playing one good quarter of offense against Syracuse, the team picked to finish next-to-last in the ACC, Carolina has vaulted from No. 18 to 12 in the AP poll, UNC’s highest ranking since Larry Fedora’s best team and Coastal Division champs of 2015.

And the bowl predictions may have the Tar Heels reaching the ACC championship in Charlotte and losing to Clemson, because Mack Brown’s bunch is slated for the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the same Dome in Atlanta where the first September 12 game was to be versus Auburn.

Or it could be Notre Dame finishing second since the Fighting Irish are ticketed for another New Year’s Six bowl, the Orange. Right now, seems like a minor miracle that any team will get there or anywhere in the long run, doesn’t it?

 

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