Monday was filled with a lot more speculation and all the ups and downs of a college football season. Only, the endless amount of tweets and updates throughout the day have nothing to do with a last-second Hail Mary in the traditional sense. The rumors of a cancellation of the fall season from the Big Ten and potentially Pac-12 that started over the weekend continued Monday morning.

However, by Monday evening the reports and information coming out sounded a bit different. As university presidents, chancellors and athletic directors continue to meet with input from medical staffs around the Power Five the big question is whether or not the upcoming season will continue as planned?

Athletic directors and coaches from around the Pac-12 reportedly met with commissioner Larry Scott Monday ahead of a meeting by the league's CEO group on Tuesday that will ultimately determine the next steps for the fall sports season. The plan has been to begin the season Sept. 26 with some flexibility built in to allow for any changes that are required as the teams prepare to play during a global pandemic.

The overall numbers across the Pac-12 suggest that the protocols in place throughout the league are working with no program having widespread positive cases of COVID-19.

However, as ESPN reported Monday, a heart condition potentially connected to the disease has increasingly started to concern college medical staffs as it has reportedly been found in athletes known to have contracted the coronavirus.

Myocarditis, which causes inflammation of the heart muscle, has been a big part of the recent about face that has happened among leaders around college football especially in the Big Ten and Pac-12 according to ESPN.

Early reports Monday indicated that it was a big enough concern that a cancellation of the upcoming fall season would be inevitable. However, in the afternoon Utah doctor Dave Petron joined ESPN700's Spence Checketts on The Drive radio show left open the possibility that a season could still take place with increased testing although another delay in the season should likely be expected.

Arizona has only reported three positive cases during its testing for the coronavirus since the start of its reentry plan in June that was halted for a time because of increasing positive cases in Pima County. The Wildcats have since restarted their reentry plan and athletes beyond just football players are now on campus.

Still, keeping those athletes as safe as possible has been the primary concern from the onset for UA, the Pac-12 and all leaders across college sports.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports continues to be our number one priority,” Scott said a month ago when the league announced its move to a conference-only schedule for fall sports. “Our decisions have and will be guided by science and data, and based upon the trends and indicators over the past days, it has become clear that we need to provide ourselves with maximum flexibility to schedule, and to delay any movement to the next phase of return-to-play activities.”

Tuesday's meeting by the Pac-12 CEO Group will follow a meeting by leaders in the Big Ten to discuss many of the same topics with a decision about the fall season expected to come from both meetings.

Monday was another active day for programs to opt out of a fall season as the Mountain West Conference decided to postpone all sports, including football, with the plan of exploring the feasibility of a spring season. Old Dominion also decided to cancel the fall season for its sports as well during what eventually became a busy start to the week.

Meanwhile, Arizona continues to go through its summer workouts with the Wildcats now into the mandatory phase of the offseason. Most of the Wildcats were able to get on the field for a walk-through practice Monday morning.

Washington is one Pac-12 program that decided to cancel its mandatory workouts Monday because of the uncertainty about the upcoming season.

The conference previously set Aug. 17 as the first day teams could begin training camp although it remains unclear if that date will stick after the developments of the last few days. Tuesday should bring more clarity on all fronts.

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