How will the COVID shutdown affect college athletics, especially CC?

More localized competition. D1 schools will probably have to charter jets exclusively for conference team travel (football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc.) so sports like xc and track that don't depend on a conference schedule prior to the conference championship should see a lot more van/bus based travel. PreNationals and Griak and Nuttycombe will perhaps feature much smaller fields for D1 and will draw chiefly if not exclusively from in-state and neighboring states. For example, if PreNats were in Terre Haute or Louisville this coming season then CU might not be there yet since it's in Stillwater, OK, a day's drive from Boulder, then expect to see them there this year but probably not NAU, Georgetown, Furman, or Cal, to name just a few. CU's schedule might more likely feature meets at venues like Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma State, CSU, maybe even a return of the Rocky Mountain Shootout.

Also, not going to happen:

crooked river wrote:

Assuming colleges can start on time, or close to it

When will you people get it? There won't be any fall sports. That includes XC. Get it together people.

Do we even think schools are starting in August?

In certain states I do not it happening.

Italy pro sports are resuming training May 18. USA Track is expecting to start up by the end of May. It won't be shut down forever. Doomsday is not reality.

njjjjjj wrote:

You’re one of those people that think football and basketball actually bring money into an institution for more than the 10% of universities out there. Cutting football could likely SAVE money for many.

I think here we need to separate the university and the athletic department. In some cases the university subsidizes sports but see it as a marketing tool. There are several cases where a high profile football or basketball program increased applications and enrollments (in some cases donations to the university and not just to the athletic department). In some cases students are assessed fees for varsity sports (not a fan of this myself).

At DIII and DII schools where every athlete pays tuition or at least some, a sport like football can me a moneymaker.

Also the accounting in some athletic departments is a little "off". Nothing illegal (from what I have read and been told) just how money is accounted for. And it varies between universities.

Sports can certainly exist with college. The model is different but doable. In one fashion maybe that is preferable. I think we are the only country that ties academics and sports together so closely and also the only one that heavily relies on colleges to develop our Olympic athletes in many sports.

A factor you are not considering is that the NCAA would have to change its rules for Division 1 to allow schools to cut sports and remain in D1. I think a school has to sponsor 16 sports to be D1 so cutting below that drops them and that means the amount of revenue they get drops too. That has to be part of the equation.

Now what might happen is that sports budgets are cut so less travel. Maybe more focus on competing about local schools. It would be tough on a school like WVU that is so far from the rest of the teams in its conference.

Grants might be reduced. The NCAA sets a limit but many schools do not fund up to that limit. So you might have more non-scholarship athletes needed.

Some building and renovation projects have already been put on hold by some schools.

I am thinking more and more that seasons will not start as scheduled. Another factor in this is that every state is making its own decision (as I think they should). If some states "open up" earlier does that give them a competitive edge?

4:51 miler wrote:

There's going to be a ton of unemployed coaches out there soon as schools cut back on staff. Average assistant coaches that would have been kept on in normal times will be let go now, because head coaches will figure this is a good time to go out shopping for top tier coaching talent for the same salary. Since there is no track season now, there's no reason to wait until June to let the dead wood go. You can't ethically have these assistants out doing recruiting if you already know for a fact you aren't bringing them back to coach for next year. Pink slips (or emails) will likely start going out today.

The part about recruiting happens every season in every sport. In football (where I follow recruiting more closely than other sports and even then not much) coaches recruit players and right after signing day, they take another job. Now they knew they were leaving.

Bear wrote:

Outside of the Power 5 and a couple other D1 conferences I’m sure football is a money loser at 99% of the remaining schools at all levels.

Not so fast my friend...

big dave222 wrote:

If schools and/or sports are cancelled this fall I will revolt. Time to arm up, boyos.

Revolt against whom?

you people wrote:

When will you people get it? There won't be any fall sports. That includes XC. Get it together people.

How do you know this? Love how everyone on this forum is a mini-Nostradamus.

big dave222 wrote:

you people wrote:

When will you people get it? There won't be any fall sports. That includes XC. Get it together people.

How do you know this? Love how everyone on this forum is a mini-Nostradamus.

I think many of us are just reading the signs. It's looking more & more unlikely that we see fall sports. I definitely hope that I'm wrong. The major marathons are bound to get canceled or go elite only. It'll be interesting to see if smaller road races and sports like cross country can make their way back.

I can't imagine budgeting should be too difficult. A lot of programs race every weekend. A lot of programs travel halfway across (or all the way) the country to run a 25:00 race. Cut a couple of races and hopefully that keeps programs afloat. It might be better for athletes not to race as much too.

Is everyone actually going to ignore the fact that OP called cross country CC and not XC? CC is for emails pal. Figure it out.

Luv2Run wrote:

The part about recruiting happens every season in every sport. In football (where I follow recruiting more closely than other sports and even then not much) coaches recruit players and right after signing day, they take another job. Now they knew they were leaving.

I agree with first view ... if assistants aren't coming back because they are going to be fired, the schools need to cut them loose now. I can see a big difference between the assistant secretly knowing they were leaving and the head coach knowing the assistant was going to be fired. In the former, that's just the chance any recruit takes and the school didn't have any way to know the assistant was leaving. But in the latter, the school knows before anyone else ... it would be unsportsmanlike for the school and head coach to let it happen!

you people wrote:

When will you people get it? There won't be any fall sports. That includes XC. Get it together people.

As much as I want things to get back to normal, I think you're right.

I agree. Hopefully we're wrong, but it'll be interesting to see how everything plays out.

Things will go back by the fall. We have to live with this not hide from it. It will spook people for a few more months, but we will be fine by September. States are already on a slow plan back to normal life. It's only April 27th. We have time.

Now that college athletes can make money well see clubs with local sponsors having their own events off campus and shown live stream on the internet. This is so exciting.

Schools are looking for continuity during the virus suspension, but they don't know how long it will last. How do they gear up again next year, keep the athletes and recruits they have, not lose any top-performing coaches, and not spend much money in the mean time? Come June, I think they will keep the head coaches they like, and maybe the top assistant on the payroll ... and then furlough or fire all the other assistants. Due to the difficulty in planning, school's concerns with liability, and athlete eligibility complications when a partial year is missed ... there's a good chance sports will be canceled for the whole 2020-2021 academic year. Remember, you heard it here first!