The coronavirus disrupted spring practice for college football teams with spring games canceled throughout the country.

Handicappers and analysts are trying to parse the fallout.

“Obviously we’re all just making educated guesses, but if there’s an impact, you figure it will hit teams with lower continuity – new quarterbacks, new coordinators, lots of new starters – harder,” ESPN’s Bill Connelly said.

“So while Clemson, Ohio State and probably Alabama have decent enough continuity not to feel effects, a team like Georgia, with (Wake Forest transfer quarterback) Jamie Newman and (new offensive coordinator) Todd Monken, might need a bit longer to get rolling.”

Alabama was able to retain offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian despite interest from other schools, and the Crimson Tide kept defensive coordinator Pete Golding after an injury-filled, substandard season. It’s the first time that Nick Saban has retained both coordinators since 2015, when the team finished 14-1 with a national championship win against Clemson.

Alabama also got a good look at quarterback Mac Jones at the end of last season after Tua Tagovailoa suffered a season-ending hip injury.

The Tide signed quarterback Bryce Young, the No. 2 player in the 2020 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Young enrolled early, but with no spring practice, it will be more challenging for him to push Jones and start against USC in the season opener.

“I don’t think his odds were great to begin with, though, simply because we got an extended look at Jones and he was rock solid,” Connelly said.

Alabama also returns a trio of proven receivers, four starters along the offensive line and two veteran middle linebackers that are returning from injury.

“I’m less sure about Auburn,” Connelly said. “They return Bo Nix, obviously, but the offensive line is completely starting over, and they’ve got a new offensive coordinator (Chad Morris). The secondary is mostly starting over, too.

“Assuming the schedule plays out as planned, they do get a Week 1 warmup before the schedule gets going, but that’s probably a team that finishes the year better than it starts.”

The Action Network’s Collin Wilson said returning production is always key in college football.

He thinks “the Alabamas and Georgias of the recruiting world do not necessarily need the extra (spring) practices for new players,” because their rosters are stacked with talent and they don’t rely on newcomers as heavily as some Group of 5 schools.

Wilson said UAB, with some of the highest marks for returning production, could have a big advantage against New Mexico State in its season opener, because the Aggies have one of the worst marks in returning production on defense.

Pregame.com’s Brad Powers also cited UAB’s 18 returning starters.

“I think it hurts LSU about as much as anyone with two new coordinators and one of the least experienced teams in the country,” Powers said.

Wilson pointed out that spring practices usually don’t heavily influence his power ratings, but he thinks the disruption could give professional handicappers a bigger edge over the general public, which could rely on assumptions.

“For example, the move from a Joe Moorhead offense to the Mike Leach Air Raid should be a shock to the offensive players of Mississippi State,” Wilson said.

“Handicappers like myself will look deep into (fall) practice reports and player social media to gain knowledge of how a new system is being put in place. No spring practices will keep these stories under wraps to the uninformed gambler.”

Powers warned that new Colorado coach Mel Tucker and new Michigan State coach Karl Dorrell, already facing major challenges after getting hired after National Signing Day, could see their problems exacerbated.

None of the three experts indicated strong opinions about sport-wide trends. Offensive timing could be negatively impacted early in the season, but so could fundamentals like tackling.

It’s fair to at least consider the possibility that COVID-19 could impact the college football season.

Hurricanes have postponed or even canceled some September games in recent years. Each sportsbook has its own rules regarding season win total bets in the event that a team does not play all its regular-season games, which is crucial to remember when that market opens.

“The news is changing by the minute. That is certainly in the back of my mind when placing bets on futures,” Wilson said.

“If I go to all the work to shop for the best lines in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Iowa and other states, I have tied up my money for several months into a market that may not exist.

“For instance, take SouthPoint’s stance on games canceled by hurricanes in 2019. Played or not, (SouthPoint’s) regular-season win total tickets were live. That will have me looking to play unders exclusively with regard to win totals.”

With no NCAA Tournament and with the NBA, MLB and other sports on hold, handicappers are putting in long hours to handicap college football teams. Many of them started in January.

If COVID-19 continues to disrupt everyday life in the United States into the fall, that work could be wasted.

Powers said he’s not worried about that.

“What I do fear is the overall health of Las Vegas, which just lost a couple billion dollars, economically, with no March Madness and no (live event for the) NFL draft.

“This city can’t survive a long shutdown on top of discretionary spending being impacted by the stock market dropping.”

Christopher Smith is a professional handicapper. He’s the founder of Sports Locksmith.