No Georgia Students? No Georgia Football: Coronavirus

GEORGIA — If Georgia universities don't hold classes this fall because of coronavirus restrictions, they won't be holding football games either.

That was the clear takeaway after a conference call Wednesday between the College Football Playoff Management Committee and Vice President Mike Pence, as reported by CBS Sports. Both the Southeastern Conference, which includes the University of Georgia, and the Atlantic Coast Conference, which includes Georgia Tech, were in on the call.

"Our players are students. If we're not in college, we're not having contests," said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby after the call. "We weren't going to have sports until we had something closer to normal college going on."

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Pence had been assigned to talk with conference leaders by President Donald Trump, who supports re-starting the major sports leagues as a morale booster while everyone shelters at home. Pence's call came a month after the NCAA Tournament — including the Final Four, which had been scheduled for Atlanta — was cancelled because of the threat of spreading the coronavirus.

College sports are different from professional sports in that student athletes can't collectively bargain for their working conditions — including during a pandemic. That means the liability to schools for playing too soon and exposing athletes to COVID-19 could be major.

Representatives of athletic departments at the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech could not be reached for comment.

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