Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp said Wednesday that officials believe a 13-game college football schedule would be possible even if the start of the season was delayed until October because of the new coronavirus.

The season is scheduled to begin with seven FBS games Aug. 29 before the majority of teams open the following week.

Speaking in a live video discussion with the Texas Tribune, Sharp addressed the football season in answering a question about the university system's lost revenue because of college sporting events which have been canceled because of the COVID-19 virus.

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) Mississippi State coach Mike Leach is expected to participate in “listening sessions” with student and community groups and tour the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum after he tweeted an image of a noose last week.

Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen released a statement Tuesday that said, “No matter the context, for many Americans the image of a noose is never appropriate and that’s particularly true in the South and in Mississippi. Mississippi State University was disappointed in the use of such an image in a tweet by Coach Mike Leach.”

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Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said Tuesday he hopes to have his team return to its facilities on May 1, a proposed timetable that would defy federal social-distancing guidelines and was quickly disputed by the university and its athletic director.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended against gatherings of 50 or more people through May 11 to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, which as of Tuesday had infected more than 380,000 people in the United States - more than any other country in the world - and killed 81,000 worldwide, including at least 11,000 in the U.S.

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Athletic directors at the nation's biggest sports schools are bracing for a potential financial crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a survey released Thursday by LEAD1, an association of athletic directors from 130 major college football schools, 63% forecast a worst-case scenario in which their revenues decrease by at least 20% during the 2020-21 school year. Even an abbreviated football season could cause schools to lose that much.

Alabama coach Nick Saban doesn’t believe extending preseason camp for college football teams around the country is necessarily the best way to get them ready for the season.

Saban said Thursday that he'd prefer some “teaching sessions on the field” over the summer to prepare for camp, even if it is in shorts and T-shirts. The coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of spring sports, including football practices, across the nation.

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Georgia coach Kirby Smart says the cancellation of spring football across the nation due to the coronavirus pandemic hurts quarterbacks more than any position.

For Smart's Bulldogs, the timing is especially bad.

Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt finally has gotten the chance to talk football with his Volunteers, even if limited to a two-hour, video session online.

The third-year Tennessee coach is embracing the virtual time he gets to work with his players following the go-ahead from the Southeastern Conference. He’s also using social media to stay in touch with his current recruiting class and watching videos shot by his Vols of their personal workouts.