It will be some time at the end of the month before we have an idea whether or not there will be college football. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said the SEC will be ready, either way.

In an interview with UGASports, McGarity addressed a number of topics pertaining to the 2020 campaign. The season remains uncertain due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. An interesting subject is the different potential scheduling models discussed by the league’s 14 athletic directors during their meeting last Monday in Birmingham with commissioner Greg Sankey.

“Oh gosh, I’d say [there were] between eight and 10. Whatever scenario you could dream about, it was at least on the table,” McGarity said. “But it never got into, well, Georgia would be playing X if it were a 10-game schedule, or if you played an eight-game schedule and started late, this is who you’d play. It was all just focused on the number of games and start dates.”

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already announced they intend to move to a conference-only schedule should the season be played, with the SEC, ACC and Big 12 electing to employ a late July timeline for making any sort of decision.

Whether that includes, for example, playing the schedule as it sits today, or moving to a 10-game conference slate, McGarity said it remains to be seen.

But whatever decision is ultimately made by the conference about the status of college football for 2020, it will be based solely on the recommendations of the SEC’s Medical Advisory Group, chaired by UGA Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Ron Courson.

“We’re kind of irrelevant in, can we play. That’s going to be taken away out of hand, and rightly so, by the Medical Advisory Group,” McGarity said. “If they say it’s okay to play if you follow these guidelines—that’s why I think in two to three weeks, they’ll know more, and if they say, 'Guys we can’t play, we’re not playing,' or if they say, 'Guys, if you wait a month, wait two months, or do it in the spring'—that’s why there are so many options on the table, and none have really been excluded.”

Even if the Medical Advisory Group gives the go-ahead, there would still be some hurdles, especially on the subject of fans in the stands. Although current conditions would appear to limit fans attending, no decisions have been made.

“We have to determine what’s the safe way to return. Each state and each locality is going to determine what capacity looks like. There’s one school that says we’re going full bore, and then there are others who say we may not have anybody there,” McGarity said. “It could be you’re playing in Columbia, S.C.—here are the rules; you’re playing in Jacksonville, Florida—here are the rules; or you’re playing in Mercedes-Benz Stadium—here are the rules. So we have to be reactive.”

Other changes that possibly could be in effect include the limiting of travel parties to just student-athletes and coaches.

“Even taking a bus to Atlanta to play in a game: In the past, we might have had two buses; it may take three buses,” McGarity said. “It complicates things, but if there’s a way to do it, we’re going to do it.”

However, the safety of coaches and student-athletes would never be compromised.

“One thing about that I continue to point out: in all these discussions, it’s never been finances first and safety second. It’s always been safety first. Finances are a piece of it, but those two will never really be switched in priority, because everybody has to feel comfortable coming,” McGarity said. “Parents have to feel comfortable with their children participating in the game, and if you’re going to a game, you’ve got to feel comfortable to where, 'Hey, I feel they have things in order, and I’m okay to come.'”

McGarity has his fingers crossed.

“We see a pathway forward. Again, it’s the unknown which is worrisome, because you just don’t know. We have always kind of been in control in college athletics, and now we’re not,” McGarity said. “Nobody’s comfortable being in that position, and we have to get used to that world for the time being, until this thing gets straightened out."

Rumors that the annual grudge match with Florida might temporarily move from Jacksonville due to the COVID-19 pandemic were just that: rumors.

According to McGarity, neither he nor Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin ever suggested the possibility.

“Not really. We’ve always known that if we’re going to play the game, I mean there hasn’t been discussion of anything other than playing the game in Jacksonville,” McGarity said. “Just like Virginia, there has never been any discussion about playing that game on campus; it was always Mercedes Benz. We’ve been consistent in both those areas.”

Although Georgia is the “home team” for this year’s scheduled game, there likely would have been a catch.

For instance:

Florida would likely have requested the Bulldogs make the return trip to Gainesville in 2021. However, considering a game in Athens in 2020 would likely be played in front of minimal fans compared to a full house in Gainesville, it would not have been considered a fair trade.

“That’s a great point,” McGarity said. “I’m sure had we thought about going in that direction, that would have been something that would have been a point of contention.”