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St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Sport
Benjamin Hochman

Benjamin Hochman: College football is special to Americans, but 2020 puts the sport in a precarious spot

The latest rankings are out, and the Southeastern Conference has three in the top 10, including ... Missouri?

No, the Tigers football team isn't in the top 10. But the city of Columbia cracked the No. 8 spot on Wednesday's New York Times rankings of another kind. It's a list of cities with the greatest number of new COVID-19 cases, relative to their population.

No. 2 was Oxford, Mississippi. No. 6 was Athens, Georgia. Sitting at No. 7? Champaign, Illinois. In fact, 12 of the top 20 were big-time college football cities, including Stillwater, Oklahoma; Tallahassee, Florida; Lubbock, Texas; Manhattan, Kansas. Months ago, this list concerned a city with a different Manhattan. Now, just in time for fall football, college towns are among the leaders in rising COVID cases.

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