Opening Drive (Aug. 25): Cause for concern

While teams are getting ready for Week 2 games, Metro squads are still left wondering if they’ll even get on the field.

This tweet certainly doesn’t provide confidence of a positive outcome anytime soon:

https://twitter.com/BuckFitz/status/1298063548812328960

So, if Metro isn’t allowed to play, what would that mean for other teams?

If that happens, it would take 13 Division I teams out of the mix, with wide implications to other teams’ schedules. Several Division II teams aren’t playing yet, either, but those schools’ administrators would ultimately make the call on whether they could begin or not.

It would also have major playoff implications for three regions, guaranteeing playoff spots for six teams and completely ending the race for one region.

Region 5-6A would only send three teams to the postseason, as La Vergne, Smyrna and Stewarts Creek would all advance. The Region 6-6A winner would get a first-round bye in that situation. The Wolverines, Bulldogs and Red Hawks would also have four holes in their schedule to fill.

Region 6-5A would only send two teams – Beech and Gallatin – to the postseason, with the top two teams in Region 5-5A getting first-round byes. Beech would have to replace four games on its schedule, while Gallatin (having already swapped out the Hillsboro game with Green Hill) would need to find three new opponents.

Giles County would win Region 5-3A by default, and the top three teams in Region 6-3A would then receive first-round byes.

Region 4-4A would also be affected with Maplewood’s absence, but with five teams remaining in the region, it would only give each available team one win for seeding purposes.

But if you were to ask those teams, they wouldn’t want to earn playoff spots that way.

If it does become true, it would be a sad day for football in Nashville. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. The fallout would likely be far-reaching.

Meanwhile, catch up on what you may have missed on Monday: