Many decisions will affect the plan

There are 130 major college football teams, spread across 41 states and competing in 10 conferences, save for a handful of independents.

The goal is to have all those teams start the upcoming season at the same time — whether that's around Labor Day as scheduled or later — and play the same number of games.

With each passing day it is becoming apparent the COVID-19 pandemic is going to make that goal difficult to achieve. Despite the best intentions of conference leaders, the possibility exists of college football being played in SEC country before it begins in Pac-12 territory — or something else entirely.

"I can't say enough about the extent to which they're working closely together, spending time together, communicating with each other," Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said. "And I think that's the most important thing. It gives us a chance to come up with an overarching policy and an ability to start together.

"Having said that, I think we all recognize that there is a significant chance that that may not be possible," he said.

The coronavirus is affecting different regions of the country in different ways, prompting a wide range of responses to fight the spread and revive economies.

Some state such as Georgia and Florida have already begun to reopen businesses. Others such as California and Washington are going more slowly. Where that leaves them all four months from now is hard to predict and the uncertainty is reflected across college sports.

College sports leaders have repeatedly said there can be no college sports without campuses being open to students. And those decisions will be made with guidance from state and local public health and government officials.

The NCAA football oversight committee has agreed on a six-week plan for teams to...