College sports are having a day.
Coaches are testing positive, players are in quarantine and games are being postponed. And as I write, I have to keep making sure I’m not missing any news.
Let’s start with the big one. Michigan State basketball coach, Tom Izzo, tested positive for COVID-19.
The Spartans were supposed to open their season in an eight-team bubble tournament in two and a half weeks. But the Orlando event was scrapped by ESPN, who said the tournament would be hindered by testing challenges.
The only game on the Spartans’ schedule right now is an early December matchup against the University of Virginia.
And if you think college football is having a hard time with COVID-19, just wait till college athletes travel around the country to play a high contact game inside as cases rise nationally.
What could go wrong until that Pfizer vaccine arrives?
Moving south to the SEC, where the powerhouse conference saw positive tests, quarantines, outbreaks, and postponements all in one day.
LSU’s football program recorded four positive COVID cases, and other LSU athletes are now sidelined due to contact tracing guidelines. Although the names of players who tested positive have not been revealed, sources told the Athletic that LSU is down to just one scholarship QB, freshman T.J. Finley.
LSU’s Saturday game against Alabama is in doubt.
Rescheduling the LSU-Bama game could be tricky, too. The Tigers have already moved Florida to their open date on December 12.
Elsewhere, the conference announced that Saturday’s Auburn-Mississippi State game has been postponed due to a number of positive tests, and athletes in quarantine at Mississippi State. Both teams have December 12 open, so that game has tentatively been rescheduled for then.
In Arkansas, head coach Sam Pittman tested positive for the virus.
Pittman says he feels fine for now and hopes the test was a false positive.
Just over a week ago, the Razorbacks played Texas A&M. Now the Aggies are, you guessed it, another SEC team dealing with a few positive cases.
A&M has two cases in their football program. They’re scheduled to play Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
And while Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach doesn’t have the coronavirus, he reportedly said this after he was asked about COVID protocols:
The well-traveled coach now in his first year at Mississippi State was already in hot water with his players and university officials after a meme he posted in April.
But wait. There is some good news. Wisconsin appears to be back! Only after recording 27 cases in the program, missing two games and pausing team activities for a week the Badgers will return to the field this weekend..
Bowl season will be fun… if we get there.
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