Greg Sankey says he doesn't govern the SEC via Twitter. We have every reason to believe him, because why would he?
And yet the SEC is making moves that Twitter very much approves of.
With four of seven scheduled games canceled for this weekend, Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reports that teams whose opponents canceled on them can schedule games against other teams whose opponents canceled on them.
In other words, as we along with everyone else on Twitter argued earlier this week, Auburn and Alabama could have played this Saturday -- or at least next Saturday.
The ground rules are simple: any re-arranged game must be one that is currently on the schedule, and cannot be a rematch.
For example, Auburn (scheduled to face Mississippi State) and Alabama (scheduled to face LSU) could have moved their Nov. 28 game to Nov. 14 following outbreaks in Starkville and Baton Rouge, but the Tigers could not have scheduled a new game against Tennessee (whose game was scuttled due to an outbreak at Texas A&M) because they were not previously scheduled to play. Nor could the Tigers have played Georgia (canceled by Missouri) because the teams already met.
All re-arrangements must be in place by Monday, which leaves teams vulnerable to mid-week cancelations.
However, should a team's outbreak linger into a second week, it would allow future opponents to find a new game rather than sitting on their hands. Moving previously-scheduled games up would also create room on the slate for re-schedules in December. Ten of the SEC's 14 teams have already filled the league-wide open date of Dec. 12 ahead of the Dec. 19 championship game.
The Pac-12 is working on a similar proposal, with Cal and Washington possibly playing this Sunday following a cancelation by Arizona State and a possible one by Oregon State.
Most importantly, the move signals the SEC's stomach for the fight remains strong, that the conference intends to finish this season amid a troubling week. The conference had played 14 of 14 scheduled games over the past three weeks before postponing and/or canceling four of seven games for this Saturday.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.