They are small issues compared to the bigger picture of fighting the coronavirus outbreak, but that does not mean there are not things that administrators at NC State, the ACC and the NCAA cannot begin to tackle now.

Here are five suggested starting points.

No one can deny that we are in uncharted territory, and all decisions are surely being made with the best intentions. But that doesn’t mean some choices might be too rash. With the great unknowns, choosing now to cancel the postseason for baseball, softball and track, which is almost three months away, seems too soon.

Presumably, in the weeks to come the country will have a somewhat (hopefully much) clearer picture of the severity of what it’s facing. With good fortune, maybe the situation improves quicker than expected. Would there still not be time to restart the spring sports? It would take a lot of creative thinking, but don’t you owe it to the student-athletes to try?

In the end, odds are that resuming play would simply be unfeasible, but hard to imagine that you can come to that ultimate conclusion in a few hours on Thursday.

Speaking of the unknown, while the pandemic on the United States front could clear up quickly, there is also a good chance that it will not. Or we could discover that the virus may naturally die off in warmer months only to re-emerge next fall before a vaccine is available, leading us to go through another round of coronavirus outbreak.

Smart administrators who now have the time on their hands need to start making whatever contingency plans necessary for the possibility of dreaded second interruption in sports. That would include back-up schedules to allow for a potential continuation of seasons if they are disrupted.

Also, fans are going to want a celebration when the Wolfpack, or whatever team they root for, are back on the field of competition. Make plans to make it a big party when the sports are back.

This is a tough call for the NCAA. There has been some outcry to give the senior season back for those who had their years cut short.

For the spring sports that were not even a third of their way into the season, it seems only fair. The question is how do you work it out? Do you allow scholarship exceptions for seniors and also help universities potentially pay for them? If possible, it would seem like the right thing to do. What do you for the incoming freshmen who signed for an expectation of what they were walking into only to learn a senior could be back?

Much trickier is what do you do with those who had their postseasons cut short, like the basketball seniors who were certain to play in March Madness. The heartfelt thing to do is try to give them another opportunity, but the cold analysis proves it’s not that easy.

For starters, if you give them a senior year back, is that fair to the other seniors like Wake Forest’s Brandon Childress, UNC’s Brandon Robinson or Boston College’s Nik Popovic? Yet do those guys have a fair claim to get another year when their seasons had already ended before the cancellation came down?

On an ACC level, there was plenty of speculation over the future of the conference tournament in Greensboro. The venue was a mainstay after hosting five tournaments from 2010-15, but it was granted only one hosting opportunity between 2016-22. Some felt that the signals were clear the ACC intended to use Charlotte, Washington and Brooklyn as its primary future host sites.

Next year, the tournament goes to D.C., and in 2022 it returns to the Barclays Center in New York, where the event was held 2017-18.

Greensboro obviously did not get a fair chance in 2020 to host the tournament. For all the city has given the ACC and its proven ability to host the event, it seems fair that Greensboro gets an opportunity again in 2023.

The same goes for the NCAA and the selected sites this year, which ironically included Greensboro. Albany, St. Louis, Spokane, Cleveland, Tampa, Omaha, Sacramento, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Houston and New York were all set to host before the Final Four went to Atlanta.

Those cities should get a first opportunity again in 2023 (the next two years are booked) whenever the next round of sites are chosen.

Naturally, wait for things to improve, and if they do soon enough, NC State should throw a nice party for its student-athletes for what was a memorable year for most sports. Four conference titles should be celebrated. A women’s basketball team that was one of the best in school history ought to be honored.

So should swimmers like Coleman Stewart and Sophie Hansson or wrestlers like Hayden Hidlay, each of whom were about to embark on realistic quests to win individual national titles (in the case of the two swimmers perhaps multiple championships). Tennis teams that had cemented themselves as top 10 in the country and hot-starting baseball and softball squads earned some recognition even if they didn't have postseason accolades.

It was a crappy ending for the student-athletes. If possible, show them some appreciation.

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