How College Football’s Powers Split Over the Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has officially split the world of big-time college football in two.

Two of the sport’s Power Five conferences—the Big Ten and Pac-12—this week concluded that staging a season in the fall would pose undue risk to athletes’ health and safety. They delayed all fall sports until next spring, at least.

The other three—the Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big-12 conferences—looked at the same available information and came to the opposite conclusion. They are convinced—for now—that they can make a season work and are pushing forward.