Athletics

Essentializing college football might help get us through these uncharacteristically difficult times of great isolation, division and uncertainty, Matthew J. Mayhew and Musbah Shaheen contend.

More colleges and universities report hundreds of positive cases; report about myocarditis in college athletes as some big-time football programs withhold COVID-19 numbers.

Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences call off 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns. Other Power 5 leagues seem disinclined to follow, leaving potential split in big-time football.

News report says Big Ten to cancel season, as Trump and others lobby for football; assessing how COVID-19 changed grading and assessment; no apparent increase in financial aid applications.

Division I and college leaders are responding to pressure from players to prioritize their health during the coronavirus pandemic. Some leaders have decided that fall athletic competition isn't safe and canceled the season, while others are holding out hope they can still play this year.

Football players in the Pac-12 Conference are unconvinced by their institutions' coronavirus safety measures and are refusing to play until demands for safer health policies and racial justice are met.

Some colleges with established sports programs are using the play restrictions required by the pandemic as an opportunity to explore the potential profitability of esports competitions.