ALSOINSIDE » What to knowabout protocols for players and teams,

Why is the Big Ten scheduling a football season this fall after all?

The league laid out a list of “stringent medical protocols” Wednesday as it confirmed reports all 14 teams are set to take the field in late October.

“Everyone associated with the Big Ten should be very proud of the groundbreaking steps that are nowbeing taken to better protect the health and safety of the student-athletes and surroundingcommunities,” OhioState teamphysicianDr. JimBorchers, a co-chair of the league’s Return to Competition Task Force medical subcommittee, said in a statement.

“The datawe are going to collect from testing and the cardiac registrywill provide major contributions for all 14 Big Ten institutions as they study COVID-19 and attempt to mitigate the spread of the disease among wider communities.”

Here is a look at the protocols:

■ Daily antigen testing for all players, coaches, trainers and any other individuals on the field for all practices and games begins Sept. 30. This will take place prior to each practice and game, and playerswho test positive will undergo another test to confirm. The second test will be a polymerase chain reaction test, which is regarded as the most accurate test available and the one widely used in public testing.

■ Those who are confirmed positive will not be allowed to return to game competition for at least 21 days. That includes a seven-day re-acclimation process with the team.

■ A comprehensive cardiac testing programincluding labs and biomarkers, ECG, EKG and cardiac MRI also must be completed by any player who tests positive. Anathlete found to have an inflammatory heart condition known as myocarditis will be ruled out for the rest of the season.

■ Data from testing will be collected and reported to the Big Ten by a Chief Infection Officer, and a cardiac registry will be established in an effort to examine the effects of COVID-19 on players in hopes of expanding understanding of the disease on elite athletes.

■ Ifmore than5percent of the teamand 7.5 percent of the teampopulation (including coaches, trainers and other personnel with the team) test positive in a seven-day rolling average, the team will be idled for seven days. If one of those benchmarks is reached but not the other, the teammayproceed with caution in both practice and competition.

TheotherBigTenfallsports as well as winter sports that begin in the fall will resume with testing protocols aswell, though specifics have not been announced yet.