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Could ACC shut football down before season starts?

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 8/14/20

The ACC — along with the SEC and Big 12 — is moving forward with plans for 2020 football seasons even though fellow Power Five conferences the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed all fall sports due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Don't assume, though, that the ACC will kick off on time or at all.

On Friday, college football insider Paul Finebaum spoke on ESPN's "Get Up" about safety concerns recently addressed by Florida State wide receiver Warren Thompson and Syracuse players as those programs continue to prepare for an upcoming campaign unlike any other.

“The idea that players at Florida State and Syracuse are calling out the people in charge — I mean the athletic director at Syracuse, the president, the head football coach. These are people the parents entrust for their kids' safety, and the young players are saying it's not enough. That's how ridiculous we're getting with this situation now. And that's why I think the ACC is where you need to focus a lot of attention on. This is two schools, and then there was a problem at Pittsburgh as well.

"They can't even get (testing) right. How are we going to have a season if they're testing every other week? I mean, that is one of the most incredibly stupid things I've ever heard. And I hope more players will speak out, because it's important to know what's really going on, because the adults are not telling the truth.”

While Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease specialist, recently explained how football could be played this fall amid the uncontrolled virus outbreak, players from the Big Ten and Pac-12 forming unity groups and publicly listing demands for safe return-to-play protocols preceded those conferences nixing previously released football schedules.

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