The Pac-12's Opening Weekend Is Already a Disaster

Pac-12 football returns this weekend and the conference's opening weekend is already a disaster, with two games being canceled.

On Thursday, Cal officially announced it was cancelling its Saturday night game against Washington due to a positive COVID-19 test and the subsequent contact tracing. Then on Friday we learned this:

BREAKING: The Pac-12 has approved a request from Utah to cancel tomorrow's Arizona at Utah game. This decision was made under the Pac-12’s football game cancellation policy due to Utah not having the minimum number of scholarship players available. Wow.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 6, 2020

So Utah has cancelled its opening week matchup with Arizona because the Utes don't have enough healthy players to play a game. That is insane.

The Pac-12 got started late this year due to COVID-19 concerns, and each team has a six-game, conference-only schedule. Having games canceled is disastrous for the teams involved and the conference as a whole. Utah could have been a contender in the Pac-12 South, but its season could be completely derailed now.

The conference's season also kicks off at Noon ET (9 a.m. PT) as USC hosts Arizona State. A 9 a.m. kickoff for the conference's most visible team is already a terrible idea, now we've got two other games cancelled. This whole thing is a mess.