COLUMBIA - College football will be the only college sport proceeding with its fall championship after NCAA president Mark Emmert announced Thursday afternoon all other championship events were being canceled because the participation threshold was below 50 percent of eligible programs.
The move impacts Missouri's volleyball and soccer programs, as well as men's and women's cross country. The Football Bowl Subdivision runs its own championship event, the College Football Playoff, independent of the NCAA, and the CFP announced Thursday, before Emmert's announcement, it would still name four semifinalists.
"We cannot now, at this point, have fall NCAA championships, because there's not enough schools participating," Emmert said in an interview with NCAA host Andy Katz. "We can't, in any Division I NCAA championship sport, which is anything other than FBS football, that goes on in the fall. Sadly, tragically, that's going to be the case this fall. Full stop."
Emmert said the NCAA would continue exploring ways to safely hold winter and spring championship events and those events would be given "highest priority," since many winter and all spring championship events were canceled in March and April at the onset of the pandemic in the United States.
The CFP put out a press release about two hours before Emmert's comments, saying it had reviewed its selection protocols and was ready to use them this season.
"The committee's task is to rank the teams based on what happens on the field," committee chair Gary Barta said in the release. "This week gave us a great chance to catch up with the familiar faces and welcome our three new members to the process. If the board and management committee say we are having a CFP, we will be ready."
Barta is also the athletic director at the University of Iowa, which as part of the Big Ten had its football season canceled Tuesday. The Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big 12 Conferences are the only Power Five conferences moving forward with football this fall.
If it's possible to play football without spreading the coronavirus, one of the most important adaptation teams make will happen in the equipment room.
A big change this fall will be full face shields integrated into the face masks of helmets, another safety measure in a long list of new ones added during the offseason.
Some MLB players have opted to wear masks during games; some all the time, and some, like Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, when an opposing player is in close proximity for an extended period. NBA and WNBA players haven't worn masks while on the court during games, while the NHL does not require full face shields.
The most likely candidates to wear masks during games would be offensive and defensive linemen, who push and pull on one another for 60-70 plays per game, but the plan or hope is the added protection will mean they won't need to wear masks during games.
"We have visors and the little plastic face shield that goes over our face mask, so we have all the precautionary stuff so we're able to go out there and play as freely as we can, given the circumstances," Missouri redshirt junior offensive lineman Case Cook said Thursday during a Zoom call. "Yeah, I feel safe about it, because we have to wear the little face guard and visors and everything, so I don't think that's an issue at all, right now."
To get to the point of having a season, however, every SEC institution will have to contain the spread of the virus on campus, and the athletic programs will have to do the same among the 150-200 individuals that comprise a football team. For the seniors on the team, including linebacker Jamal Brooks, it's cut-and-dry.
"The next few weeks are very important," he said Thursday. "I think everybody's kind of expecting another outbreak when school starts. And I mean, I guess that's expected, if you just look at the world, you know, half the people believe that you should wear the mask, and you have people that think, 'Oh, we shouldn't wear masks.'
"So I think that's going to come into play here, not only our campus but every campus, around (the country). I think that if everybody at Mizzou does what Mizzou asks them to do, wearing a mask, wash your hands, just the little things, I think we'll come out on the right side of things where we want to be."
Brooks said a fellow senior, defensive lineman Kobie Whiteside, has been vocal about the need to pass up opportunities to go out and socialize like they normally would, mentioning downtown bars Harpo's and 10 Below by name.
"He said, 'You have to put it in the perspective of, what do I want in the long run?'" Brooks said. "We want to play college football. Knowing that, you have to understand, 'Well, what do I have to sacrifice to get what I want?' For the team, we've had constant communication about that, man."
Whiteside is a veteran interior player on the defensive line, leading Missouri with 6 sacks last season, four more than the next-closest player, but Cook and Brooks will be among a number of players looking to establish themselves as starters. Missouri begins fall practices Monday in preparation for a 10-game Southeastern Conference schedule kicking off Sept. 26.
The Tigers have three openings on the offensive line, after left tackle Yasir Durant (Chiefs), right guard Tre'Vour Wallace Simms (Jaguars) and center Trystan Colon-Castillo turned pro in the spring. Cook, who was spoken highly of during Barry Odom's tenure as a lineman with versatility, started 10 games last year, including the final seven games of the season at left guard.
Though things have been "weird" due to the pandemic, Cook said the offensive line chemistry has been solid as the team adapts to an entirely new offensive staff, including first-year coach Eli Drinkwitz and offensive line coach Marcus Johnson.
"Honestly, going into it, I don't think, position-wise or level of play, I don't think it's any different than any other year," Cook said. "No spots are given, everyone's gonna earn everything."
There are fewer spots up for grabs for Brooks in the linebacker corps. Nick Bolton, who had a fantastic sophomore season a year ago at the weakside spot even after middle linebacker Cale Garrett went down for the season with an injury against Troy, is one of the team's only sure-fire starters at this point.
Brooks played immediately as a freshman, and has appeared in 25 consecutive games on special teams and at linebacker for the Tigers and is one of the team's leaders, wearing the No. 25 jersey that holds special weight within the program after the death of linebacker Aaron O'Neal in 2005.
"At this point, as a senior, everyone wants to be that guy," Brooks said Thursday. "Every year the goal is go out there, take a spot, find your role on the team, and go do it. So that's kind of what's at stake for me. That's it. That's what's at stake, a starting job."
The players are also excited for the 10-game conference schedule as a way to prove themselves.
"Give us Clemson, Ohio State, and Michigan TOO #WeWantToPlay," running back Tyler Badie, a Memphis native, posted Monday to Twitter.
Brooks, who is from Bessemer, Ala., situated between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, agreed. The Tigers will host the Crimson Tide this year after playing in Tuscaloosa in 2018.
"Man, when you sit back and look at it, you come to the SEC to play big boy ball," he said. "I'm from Alabama, that's SEC country through and through, so to play 10 of those games, one of them being from my home state, and they're coming to us, I told the guys, 'If you weren't locked in yet, it's about time. It's time to go.'
"I believe in the guys we've got in the locker room: offense, defense, special teams. It takes all of us, so I'm ready to go. I'm excited, 10 games in the best conference, I don't think it gets any better than that, honestly."
III
According to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero, former Missouri and Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant received a tryout invitation from the Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday.
Bryant, who had his only season with the Tigers hampered by injury, went undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft and was not picked up as an undrafted free agent.
The NFL lifted its tryout ban Tuesday, opening the door for Bryant to try to make an 80-man roster for training camp, which is currently underway.