Gary Kazanjian/Associated Press
In almost every corner of the college sports world — including the football playoff committee members speaking to Vice President Mike Pence — there has been a precise, unwavering benchmark for football to return in the fall:
If the coronavirus pandemic keeps students out of the classroom, there will not be players on the field, either.
All of the details — the length of the season, starting on time, whether fans will be permitted — would be negotiable, dependent largely on local public health recommendations.
But as N.C.A.A. President Mark Emmert emphasized last week in an interview streamed by the N.