ESPN, and the other networks, have a heck of a lot of film of football games from the last 50 years. My suggestion is that they televise a "2020 Virtual Season". When the schedule says "Michigan versus Michigan State, go into their library, and pick a game from a random year. Say 2003 comes up, they show the game from 2003, which Michigan wins 27-20. So, Michigan gets a win, and Michigan State gets a loss in the "virtual conference standings".

Since each game will be unknown until they start showing it, the ultimate conference winner will be unknown. You could even do that for every game originally scheduled, and end up with a "Virtual National Champion".

The idea is that gives us games to watch on Saturdays (and other days), and Conference championships, and National Championships, even bowl games.

I actually think that the NCAA and schools should give real thought to a path that includes limited, but actual, real football.

It's clear that for most, the reality has set in that it's very expensive and very difficult to implement safety measures across an entire season. As The Optimist pointed out in another thread, testing alone costs something like 20k per week.

It strikes me that there's an option that falls between cancelling the season outright and the logistically challenging, potentially unsafe, and expensive option of full conference schedules?

Why not let schools find sponsors for a series of exhibitions? The money could be split between the networks, a charitable cause (Covid research?), and covering the costs the schools are incurring -- everything from testing, to the cost of creating a multi-week bubble for players.

It would allow games like Ohio State - Michigan, Army-Navy, Auburn-Alabama, Georgia-Florida, Texas-Oklahoma to be played, make costs more reasonable to manage, and create an open market for sponsors who are desperate for live events for advertising purposes. Ratings for a stand alone Ohio State - Michigan game -- one of only a handful that season, would be much higher than normal. I mean, if Ohio State played Michigan, and it was the only game either played all season, and it wasn't up against any other games that day wouldn't the ratings be 4-5x the usual?

And it seems much more feasible to put Ohio State and Michigan in quarantine somewhere for a couple of weeks, give them access to a practice facility, and play a single game than it is to expect 100 kids to stay socially distanced and quarantined during the course of a 10 game season when they're traveling all over the country.

Actually seems like the perfect avenue for the XFL or another quick-start minor league. If college football isn't playing on Saturday, you can monopolize that day. Get a bubble, offer contracts to enough for eight teams of players who are interested in giving up college football eligibility, and let those players prove themselves in a competitive environment for scouting purposes. Wouldn't be college football, but more like an all-star tournament of college players. Even cooler if they could put together teams from conferences, such as an SEC East team, SEC West, ACC, etc.