Source: Big 12 leaning toward playing this fall

The Big 12 is leaning toward trying to play football this fall, a source told the Star-Telegram on Tuesday.

That was before the conference started its high-level meeting on the upcoming football season at 5 p.m. Included on that call are Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the league's board of directors (school chancellors and presidents) and athletic directors, as well as the conference's medical experts on how to proceed with fall sports.

The call was expected to last at least a couple of hours. The league's athletic directors were then scheduled to have a follow-up discussion at 8 p.m.

One source described the league's mindset of playing this fall as “a lot better today than yesterday.”

That statement comes on the heels of the Big Ten and Pac-12 deciding to postpone its respective seasons earlier Tuesday. The college football world is now waiting to see what the other Power Five conferences do.

The Big 12 has been viewed as a “swing vote” with the SEC and ACC planning to go ahead with seasons. And the early indication is the Big 12 will follow down that path for now. As with everything these days, it is subject to change on a seemingly hourly basis.

The Big 12's medical advisers have yet to tell schools it is not safe to proceed. As one source said, “COVID is not going anywhere. We've got to learn to co-exist with this thing in the short term.”

It's unclear if the Big 12 will vote on any formal decision Tuesday. However, if the league decides to proceed with playing this fall, it could announce an upcoming schedule for the season as early as tonight, the source said.

By announcing the conference schedule, the source said, it would send a strong message as to where the league stands for now.

TCU is in favor of playing this fall with athletic director Jeremiah Donati posting on Twitter, “#WeWantToPlay.” The football team returned to practice on Tuesday afternoon.