NCAA Oversight Committee Reportedly Proposes Practice Period Ahead of CFB Season

The NCAA's Football Oversight Committee has advocated for a minimum of six weeks to allow for players to practice before the 2020 season gets underway, according to Stadium's Brett McMurphy.

The suggestion comes amid questions about the status of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The six-week time frame, if formally approved, is significant because it would give universities a better indication of when exactly the college football season could start, a time frame that's dependent on allowing students to return to campus this fall in the first place," McMurphy wrote.

McMurphy added that's unknown whether the six-week practice window would be mandatory for all schools or differ slightly depending on the start of fall classes.

Clemson head coach and Dabo Swinney and Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy received criticism when they advocated for getting the players back on campus sooner rather than later.

However, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby made it clear when discussing the situation with Vice President Mike Pence that football players wouldn't be back until campuses were cleared for the entire student population.

"Our message was, we need to get universities and colleges back open, that we were education-based programs, and we weren't going to have sports until we had something closer to normal college going on," Bowlsby said, per CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd.

McMurphy attempted to gauge the attitudes of all 130 FBS athletic directors about the fate of the 2020 season. Of the 114 ADs who responded, 99 percent said they expect to see a season. However, 61 percent are expecting the start to get pushed back to October or November, while 14 percent believe the campaign could be delayed until January or February.