South Carolina will have resolution sooner rather than later on if the Gamecocks can have fans this fall at Williams-Brice.

Ray Tanner, speaking on 107.5 Tuesday afternoon said the athletic department is getting ready to submit their plan to South Carolina’s Department of Commerce this week to get approved to have fans in the stands for football season.

“We’re around 20,000 (fans) or so,” Tanner said of the plan. “If you counted all the bodies, it would be 24.6 percent (capacity) with not many paying customers. You’d have the full band; our band would be part of that number as well as our student athletes’ parents and guests. It would be easy to pivot and go back to no fans. Our fans want to come. I’ve heard from a lot of them they would enter at their own risk, but we don’t want them to have risk.”

Tanner told Jay Phillips and Pearson Fowler the plan could be submitted as early as Wednesday morning with no real timetable on when the Department of Commerce will make an ultimate decision.

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If allowed, Tanner’s mentioned socially distancing in the stands and potentially requiring masks when entering. During a press conference a few weeks ago Tanner said he’s not sure if the university would require masks in the stands.

A few weeks ago it looked like it would be a struggle to get fans in the stadium until governor Henry McMaster allowed larger venues like sports stadiums to start having large gatherings again to up to 50 percent capacity.

Right now the Gamecocks’ plan has it at roughly 25 percent capacity but Tanner said the athletic department could easily adjust their models if things take a turn to where it’s not feasible to allow fans this fall.

“That’s where I started, personally, from the very beginning when we started looking at a way to bring back student athletes and start working out," Tanner said. "I did not think fans were going to be a possibility. It certainly wasn’t a focus. I went into it thinking we would not be allowed to have fans based on the trending of the pandemic and the virus and the statistics. I didn’t think that would come into play. Now it has.”

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Tanner also did mention allowing students this fall as well with enough room in student section for social distancing.

“We actually modeled the north end zone,” Tanner said. “We wont be able to see it like we’re used to with a sea of white towels in the air, but we’ve socially distanced in the student section as well.”

While the Gamecocks are making preparations for potentially allowing fans, the future of college football is still in doubt with the Big 10 and Pac 12 announcing decisions to postpone the season until the spring.

Right now the SEC is expected to continue on as scheduled with preseason camp starting Aug. 17 and the 10-game, conference-only season beginning Sept. 26.

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“I look forward to learning more about the factors that led the Big Ten and Pac-12 leadership to take these actions today,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.

“I remain comfortable with the thorough and deliberate approach that the SEC and our 14 members are taking to support a healthy environment for our student-athletes. We will continue to further refine our policies and protocols for a safe return to sports as we monitor developments around COVID-19 in a continued effort to support, educate and care for our student-athletes every day.”