In this thought experiment, let's pretend that all (or most) programs play their entire scheduled season. Will we end up considering it to have been a real season? Consider that most conferences will play amongst themselves, with the Big Ten doing so at a different time from late fall through early winter.
I don't see how most bowls could be played given the challenges tied to travel and crossing various state lines. And how could a playoff happen or a national champion be crowned when all of the conferences involved won't be playing at the same time? How would it make sense to award a Heisman Trophy when many schools won't be playing and a huge chunk of staying in the mix for award consideration will be not contracting the virus and missing a couple of games in quarantine? Even the NCAA has told players that if they choose to play this year, they don't have to count it against their eligibility.
This sort of reminds me of the Writers Guild strike from 2007/2008. A bunch of television series kind of tried to have that season and abbreviated it, with many of them mostly treating the events of their stunted seasons like they never happened.