The NFL has, so far, managed to play football in a pandemic without an outbreak canceling games. That has not been the case in college football.
Although the Big Ten reversed course and announced this week that it will play football this year after all, college football continues to have player outbreaks forcing the cancelation of games.
Today Baylor announced that it will not play Houston tomorrow, as had been scheduled, because of an outbreak. Other games that had been scheduled for Saturday, including BYU at Army, Charlotte at North Carolina and Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern, were also scrapped.
Saturday’s only game between two ranked teams, Miami at Louisville, will also be affected as at least one Miami player isn’t making the trip because of a COVID-19 issue, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.
The NFL has a greater ability to test players that college football programs do, and it’s a reality that older players playing football professionally are more likely to take precautions to keep themselves free of the virus than are younger college student-athletes. The NFL may be able to play a full season, but that’s a tougher task at the college level.