Having football in the spring seems like a last resort.

“We don’t have much of an appetite for spring football … we’re not confident that spring football, if we don’t play in the fall, will even happen,” American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said. “Especially if there’s no vaccine. And we’re not really sure that it’s not going to compromise part of the 2021 season if you’re playing in the spring.

“Also, if you have to practice in the middle of the winter to get ready for your spring football, you’re practicing indoors, are you going to spread the virus more easily in that scenario? These are rational questions that have to be answered.”

OU coach Lincoln Riley doesn’t discount the possibility of a spring football season.

“I think the people who say it’s not [an option], in my opinion, just don’t want to think about it,” Riley said previously. “I just think it would be wrong of us to take any potential option off the table right now. I think it’d be very difficult to say the spring is not a potential option. I, for one, think it’s very doable. …

“It’d probably be a conference season and postseason only. We’ve seen often teams go in and play well into January in the College Football Playoff and start spring practice at some point in February, and nobody says a word about that. You’d have to give players plenty of time off to get their bodies back in the summer. Maybe a little later start back the next fall.”

The move by the Pac-12 and Big Ten cost Notre Dame three games against Wisconsin, USC and Stanford. Notre Dame competes in every sport in the ACC except football. Notre Dame has six ACC teams already on its football schedule and that could be expanded.

As a result of the Big Ten’s decision, the Big 12 lost West Virginia’s matchup against Maryland and Iowa State’s rivalry game against Iowa.

“It’s a data point, and we’re sorry to lose the games to them for this year’s schedule, but there’s not much we can do about that,” Bowlsby said of the Big Ten.

Eliminating nonconference games will affect non-Power Five Conference teams.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said, “We were aware of this possibility and will continue to evaluate the appropriate decisions and the proper timing going forward. The safety, health, and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, staff members and campuses remain our top priority.”

Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher was surprised by the announcement of conference play only.

“I was surprised at the timing,” he said. “It came before I thought there would be a decision made, but so be it. In a perfect world, all 10 FBS’s would be moving together, but that doesn’t happen, so here we are. We will all manage and move forward.”

Because of the Big Ten, West Virginia of the Big 12 lost a game with Maryland and Iowa State won’t play in-state rival Iowa.

Alabama lost an opening game with Southern California in Arlington, Texas. Oregon won’t be playing Ohio State in week 2. Michigan won’t be playing Washington and BYU lost a rivalry game with Utah. BYU could lose as many as six games from its schedule.

Because of the surge of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles, the Pac-12 wanted to delay the start of the season to help USC and UCLA.

The Big Ten may shuffle its schedule so that the divisional games come first to make it easier to pick a champion if the season is shortened further.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith wants a full 10-game season.

So far, officials with the College Football Playoff are ready to proceed with whatever happens. The impact on college bowl games is up in the air.