There were 1,611 games played across college football’s top division during the 2019 season.
More than 42 million fans cheered on 254 FBS and FCS teams in crowded stadiums. Reigning champion LSU led the nation for total fan attendance, attracting 1.28 million spectators to all of their games, including the SEC Championship game against Georgia and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Georgia (1.13 million) was among the dozen teams to play before more than a million spectators.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, college football in 2020 will be much different. The question of fans in the stands is still being debated. What is certain is that there will be fewer games.
The Power Five conferences have restricted their schedules to mostly conference-only games. Among the matchups that will not happen are the three Chick-fil-A Kickoff games in Atlanta, one of which was to feature Georgia against Virginia. Also scrapped — for the first time since 1925 — is Georgia’s annual tilt with in-state rival Georgia Tech.
The Sun Belt Conference will keep its eight-game league football schedule and allow its members to play up to four nonconference games this season. The conference’s 10 members had 12 games scheduled against Power Five conference opponents, but with those leagues eliminating almost all of their nonconference games, Sun Belt schools have lots of holes in their schedules.
The season is set to start Aug. 29, but some FBS conferences will have later start dates: ACC on Sept. 7, SEC and Pac -12 on Sept. 26.
An Associated Press analysis last week put the number of Division I games canceled or postponed at about 457* (that would be more than a quarter of last year’s total games):
FBS
FBS vs. FBS: y-60
FBS vs. FCS: y-60
TOTAL: x-134
FCS
FCS vs. FCS: 314
FBS vs. FCS: y-60
TOTAL: 383*
* — Includes games against opponents outside division.
x — Includes 14 eliminated nonconference games in ACC.
y — Does not include revisions to ACC nonconference schedule, which are TBA.
The bowl schedule already has been altered.
The Redbox Bowl, previously known as the Emerald Bowl, between Big Ten and Pac-12 teams has been canceled — partly because of the virus. The game lacked a venue after Levi’s Stadium opted not to renew its hosting agreement, according to the Mercury News.
There are still 41 FBS bowl games scheduled. The national championship game is planned for Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, in Miami.
— This article includes information from the Associated Press.
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