Alabama's season-opening contest against USC could once again be in doubt.
On Wednesday, two University of Southern California senior vice presidents, Charles Zukoski and David Wright, released a letter encouraging students to reconsider living on or near the school's campus.
"Given the continuing safety restrictions and limited densities permissible on campus, our undergraduate students primarily or exclusively will be taking their courses online in the fall term, and on-campus housing and activities will be limited," Zukoski and Wright wrote.
The letter does not address athletics, but many college football decision-makers have stressed that the continuation of athletics is unlikely if schools cannot host in-person classes for the general student body.
This is not the first time there has been doubt surrounding the Trojans ability to open the season against the Crimson Tide. On May 12, BamaInsider confirmed rumors that Alabama decision-makers held preliminary discussions with TCU that would pit the Horned Frogs against Alabama during week one instead.
Students who choose to live around the USC campus anyways will likely have to make appointments to use campus resources like the library.
According to the letter, this shift in approach comes partly because of "an alarming spike in coronavirus cases" in Los Angeles. It didn't help that the county had yet to approve the school's request to return to full operations.
"We are continuing with limited in-person, on-campus activity because we believe we can keep students, researchers, staff, and faculty safe with our low-density plan," Zukoski and Wright wrote.
