COLLEGE FOOTBALL ON ROPES
Big Ten non-conf. games get nixed, others at risk
College football needs to complete a Hail Mary to hold its season this fall.
One day after the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to erase fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Big Ten announced it will eliminate all non-conference games this fall. The ACC and Pac-12 appear set to follow suit, according to multiple reports, dimming the increasingly impractical notion of the 2020 season taking place at all.
“We are facing uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our studentathletes, coaches, game officials, and others associated with our sports programs and campuses remain our number one priority,” the Big Ten said in a statement. “By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the Conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic.”
Though leading decision-makers in college football’s power conferences have long presented an optimistic and stubborn front that their multibillion dollar enterprise would kick off without postponement or alteration, the country’s failure slowing the spread of the coronavirus has put the season in greater peril than Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren ever envisioned.
“This is not a fait accompli that we’re going to have sports in the fall,” Warren said on the Big Ten Network. “We may not have a college football season in the Big Ten.”
Though Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said spring football currently is “not a high priority for us,” it could be the only hope to have a season. Less than 24 hours earlier, Ohio State halted on-campus workouts due to an undisclosed number of athletes testing positive for COVID-19.
“I am very concerned,” Smith said during a conference call. “I was cautiously optimistic. I’m not even there now. When you look at the behavior of our country and you consider that in May we were on a downward trajectory with our [coronavirus] cases . ... Now, we’re, if not the worst in the world, one of the worst in the world.”
The Big Ten hopes to have each team play a 10-game schedule. The potential for an in-season outbreak was considered when switching to a conference-only slate.
“We can hit the pause button and provide a window of opportunity for our student-athletes not to be put at risk,” Smith said. “We can move games . ... There’s a flexibility, I can’t say that enough. That’s significant.”
Among the 42 non-conference games wiped away by the Big Ten’s decision is Michigan’s trip to Washington, Ohio State’s visit to Oregon and Wisconsin’s battle against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field.
The schedule change is most painful for smaller schools, banking on money from guarantee games to help subsidize their respective athletic departments. Bowling Green, for example, was slated to collect a total of $2.2 million for road games at Ohio State and Illinois.
The Big Ten said student-athletes are free to opt out of play in the upcoming school year without jeopardizing scholarships or standing with their team.