SEC survival of 'Flat Tuesday' a big step, but on a still-long path

The SEC — and other neighboring conferences — survived Manic Monday and Flat Tuesday.

Any players, coaches or fans hopeful for seasons this fall have to appreciate that persistence in a world where every aspect of life seems to constantly develop and evolve or, more frequently, fall apart in a matter of hours.

The dream of college sports resuming in 2020 appeared — at best — on life-support Sunday evening until players lofted a late-night Hail Mary into the Twittersphere.

Several of the nation's top football stars' expression of unity and pleas of "#WeWantToPlay" provided a spark and at least helped combat the seeming inevitability of the alternative.

Still, Monday morning felt "ominous," individuals at multiple college facilities said, as a week full of meetings and calls between key officials coast to coast kicked off in search of inevitably controversial decisions whether to punt or power forward despite potential risks.

"I'm so aggravated with all this," said one Louisiana native currently a student-athlete at an out-of-state Power-5 program. "I just wanna know if we're gonna play or not."

COVID-19 was once again tossing the five stages of grief into a blender and feeding everyone a schizophrenic smoothie, sprinkled with jjuuussstt enough hope to keep choking down the concoction through the tears.

And as the Big Ten and Pac-12 confirmed decisions to delay competition until at least the spring, the defense of fall seasons rested far more in Big-12 hands than could make any SEC fan feel comfortable.

SEC media personality Paul Finebaum called Tuesday "the most consequential day in the history of college sports" and debated whether to use the word "cataclysmic."

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, the former Badgers football coach, said he felt "hollow," as many around the country would agree.

The past few days have been undeniably challenging and deflating.

"We're doing everything we can to try to stay focused and control what we can control," said one assistant coach at an in-state Group of 5 program. "But any time any report comes out, it's just got the kids tied in knots. And we try to block all that out, but it's kind of like a train wreck. It's hard to take your eyes off it."

So waking up Wednesday morning with SEC — and ACC, Big-12, AAC, Sun Belt and Conference USA in FBS and Southland and others in FCS — sports still in tact is definitely noteworthy.

Even still, those leagues remain a long way from their intended victory.

"I look forward to learning more about the factors that led the Big Ten and Pac-12 leadership to take these actions today," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday, via a released statement. "I remain comfortable with the thorough and deliberate approach that the SEC and our 14 members are taking to support a healthy environment for our student-athletes.

"We will continue to further refine our policies and protocols for a safe return to sports as we monitor developments around COVID-19 in a continued effort to support, educate and care for our student athletes."

This week is just an early first down on a long drive to that end zone, with many safety and liability questions and hurdles to be answered and cleared on any given day before the spotlight sport of football will open its season.

"I'm just taking it day by day," one SEC player from Louisiana said. "Whatever the leaders of our conference decide is only in our best interest for our health and safety."

LSU and most other programs have done well keeping their athletes safe and healthy throughout summer workouts.

And officials have worked tirelessly on the details of how to continue that vigilance and success into a season.

But how will the circumstances around the state and region develop over the next month-plus?

Will Louisiana shift into Phase 3 on Aug. 28 as optimistically anticipated? How will that process play out in other states?

How will student populations' return to campus affect key metrics?

Other sports starting? Labor Day weekend?

Medical experts advising the Big Ten and Pac-12 have led those conferences to believe the risks and uncertainties outweigh the potential to play.

As more of their understanding and explanation are shared, might perspectives shift in the ACC, Big-12 and SEC footprints too?

Will further research — such as the increasing awareness of and questions about resulting myocarditis — change those perspectives?

And, in perhaps the most under-discussed variable to the question, how will the liability conversation proceed?

Universities' hesitance to risk potential legal ramifications has played as large a role as maybe any other factor in some of these decisions.

Even if athletes do #WantToPlay, are school officials willing to risk possible litigation resulting from a situation going poorly, if not tragic?

The NCAA Board of Governors ruled last week that institutions would not be allowed to require students to sign a waiver of their legal rights regarding COVID-19 as a condition for participation.

Can those details and concerns be worked through and overcome on such a condensed timeline?

"It's sad for everyone because of how much preparation has gone into this," one Louisiana native currently playing football for an SEC program said. "But I know that playing during a pandemic when there is so much unknown is a liability.

"(There's) too much to find a solution. And if just one player dies, it wasn't worth it. There's guys with... pre-existing conditions, and that becomes a nightmare."

What other related implications regarding the respective rights or authorities of the NCAA, conferences, universities and players could this process open further doors into?

The SEC and its members, as well as about half their peers, continue to release schedules and new uniform designs this week while others hunker down and hope for the spring.

But our loose grip on the coronavirus complicates planning so much that betting on the whims of a groundhog would be more predictable.

That unknown element remains for the leagues kicking the can into 2021 with any increase in viability within the COVID-19 landscape far less assured than the definite cans of worms stemming from forcing two seasons in one calendar year and how any of the related timing conflicts with the NFL Draft.

But the unknown also remains with the teams who continue targeting fall starts.

LSU coach Ed Orgeron's comments to FOX NEWS that, "There is no Plan B here at LSU," could be as concerning as they are encouraging.

That approach — which, to be fair, may have been somewhat exaggerated for emphasis — could easily leave student-athletes and their families with unnecessarily unanswered questions and rushes of additional anxiety if circumstances do change.

"If someone says, 'No, we're going to move to spring,' what does that mean?" North Carolina coach Mack Brown told media this week. "We've got to answer to kids, and they're all going to ask — seniors, pro prospects, early enrollees coming in... I want us to do whatever's safe for players, but I also want us to have a plan.

"I want people to tell us what this means — not just that we're going to do it."

That oversight has been a major source of frustration for players and coaches in conferences to have postponed and a major reason for fair skepticism whether those "postponements" don't actually prove to be de facto cancellations.

Even the SEC's statements on staying the course carry less firm a stance of "not cancelling" and more so of "not yet."

"Best advice I've received since COVID-19: 'Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new and you'll gain better information each day,'" Sankey posted Monday via Twitter. "(The SEC) has been deliberate at each step since March... slowed return to practice... delayed first game to respect start of fall semester... Developed testing protocols...

"We know concerns remain. We have never had a football season in a COVID-19 environment. Can we play? I don't know. We haven't stopped trying. We support, educate and care for student-athletes every day, and will continue to do so... every day."

Sankey said Tuesday morning on The Dan Patrick Show that the SEC would not likely move forward as the only conference, if other peers cancelled — a stance that made the Big 12's decision increasingly critical.

The ACC had appeared as firm as any conference until reports by Sports Illustrated that a Big-12 cancellation would leave the ACC "compelled to do the same."

And so, even after some big steps toward fall sports Tuesday, those conferences continue to navigate day by day and hour by hour on footing somewhere between thin ice and egg shells.

"I'm handling this week and focusing as if we are having a season, controlling what I can control," one SEC player said.

Unfortunately, even after Tuesday, that "what" remains far less than anyone is typically used to or can encourage one to feel overly confident.

Wednesday wasn't the destination, but it did arrive with a bit more hope in more football operations buildings in Louisiana and other neighboring states than had appeared to be the case just a day or two prior.

"We're just going to keep coming in until they tell us we can't," a Group of 5 said.