Sankey: Games will be forfeited if teams cancel due to COVID

Greg Sankey is doing something that he hadn’t done for six months – telling SEC schools that if COVID numbers within teams are so bad that they are under the 53 person scholarship limit, they will forfeit games.

“We still have roster minimums that exist, just like last year,” the SEC Commissioner said in his remarks at SEC Media Days. “What I’ve identified for consideration among our membership is we remove those roster minimums and you’re expected to play as scheduled. That means your team needs to be healthy to compete, and if not, that game won’t be rescheduled. And thus, to dispose of the game, the ‘forfeit’ word comes up at this point. That’s not policy, and what you see are bookends now for decision-making.”

In other words: Get vaccinated or your season could be in trouble.

CBS Sports noted that as of Monday, only six of the league’s 14 teams had reached the 80% vaccination rate. Sankey added: “That number needs to grow, and grow rapidly,” Sankey said. “We have learned how to manage through a COVID environment, but we do not yet have control of a COVID environment, and that finds us preparing to return toward normal this fall, but we see realities around us.”

He added: “And when people are fully vaccinated, we all have the ability to avoid serious health risks, reduce the virus’ spread, and maximize our chances of returning to a normal college football experience and to normal life,” he said. “With six weeks to go before kickoff, now is the time to seek that full vaccination.”

Six of the league’s 14 teams have reached 80% vaccination rates. “That number needs to grow, and grow rapidly,” Sankey said. “We have learned how to manage through a COVID environment, but we do not yet have control of a COVID environment, and that finds us preparing to return toward normal this fall, but we see realities around us.”

No SEC state ranks above 25th in the list, with nine SEC states in the Bottom 12. Florida is the best-vaccinated (47.68% of residents), while Alabama is the worst (33% of residents).

Florida head coach Dan Mullen in his own press conference said that Florida was close to the threshold of vaccinated players: “We are at a pretty high number of vaccinated players right now… We’re getting close to the threshold numbers that you need to be at.” He did not elaborate on the number, so who knows what ‘close’ is.