Kansas coach Les Miles: Players skipping season 'opt into the pandemic'

As the college football season approaches, some players have chosen to opt out for a variety of seasons. Kansas coach Les Miles says that players who choose to skip the upcoming season are actually taking a greater risk than those who decide to play.

"If they opt out because of the pandemic, then they opt into the pandemic," Miles said, via Matt Galloway of the Topeka Capital-Journal. "The last I saw it, the pandemic was worldwide, OK? So I don't know what their advantage is to turn at this point away from what would be a good finish to a college career and opportunity to advance their abilities and then have a choice whether to go off to the NFL or to stay and compete. So we'd love to have them stay and compete."

While Miles is right that the pandemic is spread across the entire country and most of the world, there is certainly an added risk being in a college environment that is not in a bubble, not to mention the risks of playing a contact sport. However, some have argued that getting to play does have its benefits, as CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reports the Big 12 will have members of the conference conduct three tests, 2 PCR tests and one rapid antigen test each week.

Approximately 50 players in the Power Five conferences have opted out of the upcoming college football season, including Kansas offensive lineman Antione Frazier.

Kansas is scheduled to open its season on Sept. 26 against Baylor.