CHAPEL HILL — Hours before the Big Ten and Pac-12 pulled out of football this fall, North Carolina coach Mack Brown said he doesn’t envision the Atlantic Coast Conference endeavoring to play on if other power conference cohorts drop their pursuit.
“I don’t see leagues playing by themselves,” Brown said Tuesday, in a video conference with reporters. “I think if you see three or four of the leagues saying they don’t think it’s healthy, then I think that people across the country would really be concerned that if enough people think it’s not safe, then why would we do it?
“If some of the others don’t play, I don’t know what that does for us. You have to look at the NCAA structure with championships, you have to look at the College Football Playoff and what that would mean for them.”
Brown’s comments came Tuesday morning after the Tar Heels completed their fifth practice session of the preseason, amid the doom-and-gloom speculation that college football’s highest level had reached a breaking point in this time of coronavirus.
By the end of Tuesday afternoon, the Big Ten and Pac-12 had punted on playing in the fall, a massive hit to the crumbling prospect of a college football season.
The leagues — two of the Power Five conferences along with the ACC, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 — cited the challenges and risks of attempting to prevent players from contracting and spreading the virus without the benefits of operating in a bubble like the NBA and NHL. They will explore the possibility of playing competitive seasons in the spring.
On Monday, the Mountain West became the second league from the Football Bowl Subdivision to shut down because of the pandemic, joining the Mid-American Conference on the sidelines. Old Dominion also broke away from its league, Conference USA, and suspended its hope to play football in the fall.
The increasing domino effect and considerable doubt in the mix have put the state of the sport at a crossroads. In a response to the decisions from the Big Ten and Pac-12, the ACC and SEC on Tuesday re-affirmed their intentions to continue moving forward with the hope of conducting fall seasons.
“I feel like our league is a league that wants to play,” Brown said of the ACC, “and that’s important that message is out there. I applaud our league for doing that.
“You’ve got medical consultants, you’ve got presidents and chancellors, you’ve got athletics directors, you’ve got faculty reps, you’ve got coaches, you’ve got young players, you’ve got fans, you’ve got top boosters, there’s a lot of opinions right now on this thing and the only thing that matters is if the medical people say the kids are safe. That’s the only thing that matters. The rest of it, opinions do not matter.”
North Carolina players began fall semester classes Monday. Brown said more than a month has passed since a team member test positive COVID-19.
Under the ACC’s new modified schedule, the Tar Heels open the season Sept. 12 against Syracuse, followed by a Sept. 19 visit from Charlotte.
“The doctors know the kids want to play,” Brown said. “The doctors know the coaches want to play. But it’s the doctors’ responsibility to make sure that we keep the kids safe.”
