Schedule revamp affirms pledge to fall ball
Conference confident in its safety protocols but realizes pivot ability will be paramount
AUSTIN — One day after a pair of Power Five leagues decided to postpone all sports through 2020, the Big 12 released restructured football schedules for each of its 10 teams as the conference presses forward with a fall season.
“We feel like we’re as well prepared as we can be at this time to move forward,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Wednesday during a media teleconference. “We plan to do what we have always done and we’ve been doing it since April, and that is on the advice of doctors moving forward slowly, constantly re-evaluating what we’re doing, making small corrections, and looking for challenges.”
The Big 12’s rollout of a nineplus-one format — round-robin conference schedule and one nonconference game — arrived Wednesday morning even after medical advisers pressed the Pac-12 and Big Ten to shut down athletic competition through at least the end of this year.
When asked whether that news deterred the Big 12 board of directors, Bowlsby pointed to the findings of his league’s own experts and said the most critical thing is to do “what is best for our individual conferences.”
“The Pac-12 and Big Ten are seeing much of the same information that we’re seeing,” Bowlsby said. “But our board believes in our scientists and has come to a conclusion that’s different. And so have the leadership of the SEC and the ACC.”
The new schedule has Texas opening up the conference portion of its schedule Sept. 26 at Texas Tech, with an earlier nonconference game at home against UTEP on Sept. 12. Texas will still play every Big 12 team, and the Longhorns’ annual clash with Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas is set for Oct. 10.
Each team will have a minimum of two off dates and potentially a third one late in the season, allowing the Big 12 to host its championship game either Dec. 12 or 19 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
That news came as a welcome relief to many Big 12 football players, some of whom had come out in support of the #WeWantToPlay movement. A few of those student-athletes were also involved in discussions with conference leadership after each program designated two player representatives.
“Obviously, we as players want to play as long as it’s safe for us,” said UT safety Caden Sterns. “It’s been good that the Big 12 has allowed us to be involved in the process, because there is obviously a lot of uncertainty. And for us to get some sort of an answer, that helps ease our minds.”
Bowlsby noted the situation remains fluid. The conference, with help from internal and external consultants, is still preparing emergency countermeasures should the season be disrupted.
Any sort of severe COVID-19 outbreak would likely trigger a shutdown, which could force the Big 12 to push football back until 2021.
During Wednesday’s call, Bowlsby opined that it never “made a lot of sense” to postpone football and play in the spring, though it remains a “viable” backup plan should the conference feel compelled to suspend the fall season.
Big 12 members have committed to enhanced COVID-19 testing that includes three tests per week in “high contact” sports. Additionally, return-to-play protocols after positive occurrences will include an EKG, a troponin blood test, an echocardiogram and a cardiac MRI. Nonconference football opponents must also adhere to COVID-19 testing protocols that conform to Big 12 standards during the week leading up to competition.
“Making adjustments on the fly is going to be a part of this,” Bowlsby said.