“The Comeback Year”2021 College Football Preview

The 2021 College Football (CFB) season has a chance to be the best individual CFB season in modern day history. Why do I say that? Let us flash back to a year ago. Yes, 2020. The year a rapidly spreading virus took over the world, leading to a Pandemic that humankind had not seen in over a century. A year so bad, when you say it aloud, it makes you cringe. In 2020, nothing was certain. It was a year filled with unprecedented circumstances, from so called “plans” being postponed to eventually being cancelled, and to unfortunate societal situations leading to a hypersensitive society. There was a point in late spring 2020, when the world seemed as if it had stopped spinning on its axis, that one of CFB’s more well-known and respected analysts, Kirk Herbstreit, said he did not see how it was possible to even have a CFB season in 2020. Well, we did have a season, amidst protests, positive cases and increasing mortality rates. We somehow managed to play, despite delayed starting times from different conferences, postponed games due to regional outbreaks and contract tracing, empty stadiums, quarantined teammates, and sometimes, last-minute announcements of who a team was playing that week. Did we get a CFB season? Yes. Was it “normal?” Not until the end, when the Crimson Tide had won yet another National Championship. It was like looking forward to your elementary end-of-year party, but the pizza was cold, and the soda was flat. Did we have a party? Yes, but it was not what we were hoping for; neither was this what the CFB community was expecting. For me, this was the first time since I had begun watching the great game of college football that I was glad to see the season end. Thankfully, that’s all in the past, and we can now look forward to what should be a fantastic 2021 College Football season.

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Why the 2021 College Football Season Will be Special

When you really love doing something and you get to do it often, you may start taking it for granted. But if you suddenly get it taken away from you, you may end up gaining a new appreciation for what you lost. If you do get it back, you’ll likely savor it even more than you did initially.

That is precisely why the 2021 season will be so special. Fans will be more appreciative, understanding how good they had it (before covid) and grateful to have their beloved college football back again. These passionate fans are going to be more energetic and louder than they ever had been. We also have a unique situation with the players. These 18–22-year Olds had expectations of college that did not include quarantining, masking, and staying six feet apart. They were expecting to one, play football, and two, meet and socialize with people - lots of people.

You want to know why so many players took advantage of the “super senior” year? They wanted to be a part of what college is all about - something 2020 could not deliver. They did not want their collegiate careers to end on a low note. They wanted to come back and finish their college experience on a high note – something 2021 promises. With all the adversity the players, coaches, and fans fought through last season, expect a big comeback season this fall.