SALT LAKE CITY — Even though the Utah Utes have yet to open camp or even play a single down of football this season, the topic of going bowling has already come up. Utah athletics director Mark Harlan was asked about it in a Zoom conference with the media last week. A national pundit has even ventured an early guess on a destination.
The coronavirus pandemic has altered the landscape with the Pac-12 planning to kick off its season in November and hold its conference championship game at a school site on Dec. 18. The obvious hope is the winner, despite playing a maximum of just seven games, will earn a berth in the four-team College Football Playoff when the final selections are made on Dec. 20.
Prognosticator Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com has it happening. In his bowl predictions this week, he has Oregon claiming the No. 4 spot and meeting No. 1 Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.
Palm also has seven other Pac-12 teams going bowling this season. USC headlines the group with a New Year’s Six berth in the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State. Utah is ticketed to play Pittsburgh in the Holiday Bowl. The rest of the forecast includes: Arizona State-Iowa State (Alamo), Washington-North Carolina State (Sun), Stanford-Army (Independence), California-LSU (Las Vegas) and UCLA-Nevada (Los Angeles).
Bowl eligibility isn’t going to be an issue this season. The NCAA Division I football oversight committee, to which Harlan is a member, has recommended that any team meeting Academic Progress Rate standards be able to play in a bowl regardless of record, which generally needs to be .500 or better.
West Virginia athletics director Shane Lyons, who chairs the oversight committee, explained the decision in the NCAA’s announcement.
“Providing a more flexible framework for the postseason in this unprecedented time will provide some certainty moving forward,” he said. “These are important postseason opportunities for our student-athletes, and this will help everyone to prepare.”
Although some bowl games are in a precarious situation financially because of the pandemic, the Redbox Bowl, thus far, is the only Pac-12 affiliation to announce a cancellation this year. The remaining conference agreements are still in place after the CFP selections. The Rose Bowl is a designated national semifinal this season, meaning the Pac-12 champion is not guaranteed to play there.
Exact dates for most of the bowl games are likely fluid with the season and conference championship contests extending well into December.
“The early indication is our bowl partners are planning on being very flexible,” said Harlan, who expressed “great hope” that the games and teams will be available.
Considering the unpredictability of COVID-19, the waiving of a .500 record can only help the situation.
“So in essence, you know, everyone will be eligible for bowls,” said Harlan, who noted that the Pac-12 football working group and commissioner Larry Scott will be working on how the spots would be slotted and such moving forward. “I’m anticipatory that the bowls will be ready to go.”
Harlan noted that he has listened to the student-athletes and has tried to carry their voices into the things they’ve asked for very significantly. Specifically, providing the best healthy and safety environment, keeping an eye on their eligibility and making sure it was meaningful with a championship and postseason possibilities.
“I think we’ve hit all those marks,” Harlan said.