Football schedule remains up in the air for Aztecs, Mountain West

The San Diego State football team begins practice for the 2020 season on Aug. 7.

At least that is when it’s scheduled to begin for the Aztecs and was originally allowed for the 129 other FBS programs across the nation.

Not that anything is going according to plan amid the coronavirus pandemic that has created unprecedented circumstances in college athletics, as with all aspects of life.

Aug. 7 should remain circled in pencil for SDSU’s practice plan, given that the Mountain West hasn’t even confirmed what the season schedule looks like for its 12 member schools.

Until the schedule is finalized, practice plans are up in the air. The NCAA allows practice to begin six weeks before a team’s first game.

SDSU, which officially began bringing athletes back to campus July 7 for voluntary workouts, is scheduled to open the season on Sept. 5 against Sacramento State at SDCCU Stadium.

So Aug. 7 is within that time six-week time frame. Should the Mountain West move to a conference-only schedule and/or delay the start of the season, however, that could change.

A Mountain West spokesman said a schedule announcement was not expected this week. Knowing something by the middle of next week would seem reasonable.

The MW has been waiting along with other Group of Five conferences for clarity among Power Five conferences before determining its plan forward.

A 10-game conference-only schedule seems to be preferred by the Power Fives. The Mountain West, which normally plays an eight-game schedule could certainly follow suit and add two more conference games. The MW also could stay with eight and add two nonconference contests.

Complicating matters for the MW, though, is uncertainty surrounding some of its programs.

Last week, New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham asked New Mexico and New Mexico State to postpone their seasons. The Lobos are considering it as a request rather than a demand and have not yet ruled out playing.

Spikes in coronavirus cases also have been cause for concern at San Jose State and Fresno State, where both schools were delaying voluntary workouts until they received direction from Governor Newsom’s office. Those directions never came.

What that means for the Spartans and Bulldogs being ready to play as scheduled remains to be seen. According to a campus spokesman, San Jose State players returned to campus within the past two weeks. The Fresno Bee reported Thursday that Fresno State still has not brought athletes back to campus and will not start practice on Aug. 7. No start date has been announced.

Here’s what we do know at this point:

Power Five conferences

ACC: The conference announced Wednesday that it will play a 10-game conference schedule — that includes Notre Dame (which has been an independent since its first snap in 1887) this year — plus one in-state nonconference game. The start of the season will be delayed one week, to Sept. 12, and its conference championship game pushed to Dec. 12 or 19. The ACC championship game will match the teams with the two highest winning percentages.

Big 12: A schedule decision — likely conference-only with everyone else doing it — is expected following Monday’s meeting of conference school presidents. Then again, who knows with these guys? On Wednesday, they announced their postponed virtual football media day had been rescheduled for Aug. 3. On Thursday morning, they announced how to access the event. On Thursday afternoon, they canceled it.

Big Ten: The conference set everything in motion on July 9, announcing its teams would play a conference-only schedule. According to several reports, the 10-game slated is expected to be announced next week.

Pac-12: Followed the Big Ten’s lead on July 10, announcing a conference-only schedule. The move cost SDSU its Sept. 19 home game against UCLA. The conference pushed back the start of the season two weeks, to Sept. 19. Release of the full schedule is expected on Friday.

SEC: The conference announced Thursday that it will play a 10-game conference schedule. The decision did not include playing one nonconference game as well, as the ACC plans. The SEC also will push back the start of the season three weeks, to Sept. 26, and its conference championship game to Dec. 19.

Group of Five conferences

The Group of Five conferences — American Athletic, Conference-USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt — have been waiting for things to shake out among the Power Five before determining their intentions.

C-USA will play an eight-game conference schedule and allow as many nonconference games as can be scheduled (up to four), according to a report Thursday by @Stadium. C-USA teams also could schedule conference opponents as “nonconference” games to fill out their schedules.

Independents

Notre Dame’s relationship with the ACC in its other sports helped the Fighting Irish make its one-year deal for football with the conference, avoiding a scramble to replace all the games it lost because of the conference-only move across the country.

BYU has been busy trying to replace the five games it lost with the Big Ten and Pac-12 going conference only. Thursday the Cougars also lost a game with Missouri as the SEC announced a conference-only schedule. BYU would lose three additional games — against Utah State, Boise State and SDSU — if the Mountain West goes to a conference-only schedule.

According to the Deseret News, BYU was trying to schedule a game with Alabama, but that is gone with the SEC’s decision. The Cougars also were in contact with TCU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State about games against the Big 12 schools.

The other independents — Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn, UMass — also had their schedules ripped apart because of the conference-only moves and are searching for solutions.