Big 12 commissioner expects 'difficulties' and 'disruptions' during college football season

"We're gonna have to make some of these decisions in real-time," Bowlsby said. "We aren't going to have the benefit of making lots of plans well in advance. Right now, we're trying to get back to campus and trying to get back to workouts and trying to get back to some semblance of normal so we can get ready for a football season.

"Beyond that, we have a 12-game schedule. We start on Labor Day weekend and we're just gonna have to play it by ear. We don't want to put anybody at risk from a health standpoint. We need to go through this and recognize that we're dealing with mostly young, healthy athletes, but that doesn't mean they can't be transmitting the disease.

"Absent a virus vaccine, we're gonna have some difficulties during the course of the year," Bowlsby said. I fully expect that we'll have some disruptions. We're going to do everything we can to minimize the likelihood of those things happening, and to optimize the disinfecting processes that we have in our weight rooms and locker rooms and training rooms, and I think we'll practice good social-distancing.

"This has always been managed by governors and public health officials and, to some extent, mayors. And soon it will be in the hands of the university presidents and chancellors and then, eventually, the athletic departments." 

Per Ben Kercheval of CBS Sports, Bowlsby added: "I expect we will have some outbreaks during the course of the school year on campuses and within athletics departments. We've been told to expect a bumpy road, so that's what we're preparing. I don't think much of hope as a strategy, but we hope things will go smoothly and prepare as if they won't be."

Earlier this month, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey touched upon the importance of he and other conference commissioners embracing adaptability during uncertain times for a season that may be postponed through the end of the year and into early 2021. 

Meanwhile, University of Michigan President Dr. Mark Schlissel declared his school will have no fall sports, including football, if students can't return to campus because of the pandemic.