USA TODAY International Edition
Big Ten on verge of not playing football
A decision to cancel or move fall games to spring could lead to a domino effect on rest of Power Five.
Big Ten presidents have the conference on the verge of not playing football this fall, three people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Detroit Free Press.
The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the presidents’ thinking. A formal announcement on ending the 2020 season is expected as early as Tuesday, the people said.
The situation remains fluid as the details of what happens with a spring season remain unclear.
The people said the presidents were in agreement Sunday to end fall sports in the conference. Michigan and Michigan State – which both have physicians as presidents – were among the schools in favor of ending the fall seasons, according to those people.
Multiple persons with knowledge of the process said Monday morning that presidents voted 12- 2 to end the season, though the Big Ten said Monday afternoon no official vote had taken place.
Coming during a tense week of emergency conference meetings, the decision signals college football’s inability to grapple with the health and safety measures needed to combat the widespread transmission of the coronavirus while potentially leading to a domino effect of similar moves across the Power Five.
Monday evening, a second conference in the Group of Five – the Mountain West – announced it would “postpone” fall sports, including football. The league said it would look for ways to reschedule, including possibly the spring. Its release also said “there are ongoing discussions regarding the status of winter sports.”
Last weekend, the Mid- American became the first Football Bowl Subdivision conference to officially postpone competition until at least the spring, citing health concerns for its decision impacting all fall sports.
The Big Ten announced last Wednesday its playing schedule for the fall with games planned for Labor Day weekend. Teams were practicing in anticipation of the start date. However, the league Saturday said players could not wear pads and engage in full- contact activities.
The remaining four conferences in the Power Five have yet to announce any further decisions regarding the season. It is expected the Pac- 12 will follow the Big Ten in canceling the season.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey tweeted Monday afternoon, “We know concerns remain. We have never had a FB season in a COVID- 19 environment. Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying. We support, educate and care for student- athletes every day,
and will continue to do so... every day.”
Several players and coaches, including Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Nebraska’s Scott Frost, went on social media to express their desire to play the 2020 season.
Heisman Trophy favorite Trevor Lawrence, the quarterback of No. 1 Clemson, said on Twitter, “Players being safe and taking all of the right precautions to try to avoid contracting covid because the season/ teammates safety is on the line. Without the season, as we’ve seen already, people will not social distance or wear masks and take the proper precautions.”
The # WeWanttoPlay hastag became widespread on Twitter as well.
As a sport, college football debuted with Princeton and Rutgers playing the first game in 1869 and had continued without interruption every year since, through two world wars and even another pandemic – while some schedules were cut back, a season was held during the flu pandemic of 1918.
All this comes nearly five months after the NCAA canceled the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, in one of the earliest signs that major sporting leagues and events would struggle to conduct business as usual.
College football had eased back into normal activities during the months since. After the cancellation of offseason practices in March, coaches and players separated for much of the spring before returning to campuses in early June after the NCAA allowed voluntary team activities.
Those continued into August amid a number of warning signs. On a national scale, positive cases of COVID- 19 spiked over the summer in many states housing multiple Bowl Subdivision programs, including Texas, Florida and California.
Meanwhile, large outbreaks of cases caused several programs to suspend team workouts entirely, leading every Power Five conference to announce altered regular- season schedules that largely eliminated non- conference play.
Concerns about potential cardiovascular issues for people contracting the virus also have become notable.
The mother of Indiana player Brady Feeney posted on Facebook about complications of her son contracting the disease before he arrived on campus. Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez will not play this season because he developed myocarditis – a heart condition – after recovering from COVID- 19.