Pac-12 commissioner confident about playing football in January

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is optimistic about playing football by January and hasn't given up on hosting games this year.

The conference has been exploring new dates for its postponed fall campaign, and Scott said he's excited about a potential return to play after announcing Thursday a partnership with a company that will supply daily rapid-result coronavirus testing for student-athletes.

"I've got a high degree of confidence we'll be playing in January," Scott said Friday on the "The Dan Patrick Show." "It's possible, because of this announcement, that we could play sooner.

"I think the significance of yesterday's announcement, having access to this testing, is: I can look at you in the eyes virtually and tell you I have a high degree of confidence we're playing."

The tests can produce results in 15 minutes and are expected to be available to athletic departments by the end of September.

Scott expects the development to be a "game-changer" and has suggested the tests to the Big Ten, the other Power 5 conference to call off its 2020 fall football season due to COVID-19 concerns.

Despite postponing its campaign, the Big Ten is reportedly still considering playing football this year.

Several coaches have expressed concerns about playing in the spring, considering student-athletes would play two football seasons in the same calendar year and a spring season would be very close to the NFL draft.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban recently suggested a spring football campaign might be "sort of a JV season" due to players opting out for the draft.