Conference votes to return next month with 8-game schedule
For a while there, it looked as if Big Ten football would produce only one score this fall: 11-3.
As in, 11 schools voted to postpone fall sports and three (Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa) dissented.
But after weeks of criticism and cajoling from the likes of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, Iowa football parents, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and President Donald Trump, the Big Ten crossed the 1-yard line – as Trump alluded to in a tweet.
The conference announced its restart Wednesday, declaring a unanimous vote to start playing Oct. 23-24 with a slate of at least eight games in nine weeks and a conference title game Dec. 19.
Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said all teams also will have an “opportunity” to play a ninth game, with potential matchups between the No. 2 team in the West versus the No. 2 in the East, No. 3 versus 3, 4 vs. 4, etc.
The accelerated schedule accommodates Ohio State’s desire to compete for a College Football Playoff berth and the wishes of TV executives who want to broadcast games of national significance.
“The priority has been health and safety, and it sounds like the questions that the presidents needed to be answered were answered,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said Tuesday. “I’m excited for our guys to have a safe opportunity to play the game they love.”
The conference’s statement says the Big Ten has “adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced, data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/ competition.”
“Everyone associated with the Big Ten should be very proud of the groundbreaking steps that are now being taken to better protect the health and safety of the student-athletes and surrounding communities,” said Dr. Jim Borchers the head team physician at Ohio State and co-chair of the
Return to Competition Task Force medical subcommittee.
“The data we are going to collect from testing and the cardiac registry will 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.”
Northwestern President Morton Schapiro said he voted to postpone in August because based on reports from the conference’s medical advisers, “there was virtually no chance we could do it safely.”
He then quoted Nobel laureate economist Paul Samuelson, who said: “When events change, I change my mind.”
Schapiro voted yes Tuesday night, he said, because those same medical advisers were unanimous that the conference could play safely: “For me it wasn’t about political pressure, money or lawsuits.”
The conference announced that daily antigen testing of athletes, coaches and on-field staff will begin by Sept. 30.