Can the Big Ten compete for national title?
Given the inability to predict how COVID-19 will impact schedules, it won’t be easy as the conference starts a nineweek rush.
On then off and then back on again, the Big Ten football season is set to begin a nine-week rush unlike any in conference history. A quick refresher:
The league decided in August to play and set a 10-game, conferenceonly schedule.
Then, six days later, decided not to play and postponed the season until no earlier than next spring.
And then, spurred by the vocal objections of Ohio State, Nebraska and others, decided in September to opt back into the 2020 season with a ninegame schedule.
“The good news right now is that it’s game week,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “I don’t know if any of us thought that was ever going to happen, so certainly we’re excited about that – the fact that it’s going to take place.”
Concern over the financial fallout of not playing in 2020 was not the only driver behind the Big Ten’s reversal. If not as easily defined as dollars and cents, coaches and athletics directors also feared the impact on the league’s reputation as the Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences never wavered on conducting a season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s such a relief to be here, to know that we have a chance to play, and we’re just hopeful that we’re able to perform and ultimately get in the postseason like we dreamed of,” Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said.
Even if not every Big Ten team has the same postseason vision as the Buckeyes, who imagine the 2020 season ending under a shower of confetti at the College Football Playoff, the decision to reboot the season was geared toward ensuring the conference remained a major player in determining the national championship.
Between the crammed slate of games, the mushrooming list of cancellations across the Football Bowl Subdivision and the inability to predict where, when and how COVID-19 will impact weekly schedules, is that even possible?
“I think there’s concern,” said Nebraska coach Scott Frost. “I think if you want to play, then you find ways to play. I think you’ll find ways to play it. If you find ways and reasons to not play, I think you can accomplish that goal, too.”
Big Ten teams are playing from behind. The ACC and the Big 12 opened
Sept. 12. The SEC launched Sept. 26. Every team in the ACC has played at least four games, with most having played five games and Pittsburgh and Duke having played six. Every team in the SEC has played four games except LSU and Vanderbilt.
The conference has still been shown a degree of national respect. There are five Big Ten teams in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll: No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 17 Michigan and No. 21 Minnesota. The Buckeyes are one of three teams to earn first-place votes, along with No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama.
Even before playing a game, the Big Ten has more representation in the Top 25 than any conference other than the ACC, which has six ranked teams. (That list for the ACC includes Notre Dame, a traditional independent that joined the league for this season only.)
“So, you know, this is a tough league,” said Penn State coach James Franklin. “You better be ready to play week in and week out.”
To factor into the playoff debate, however, the top contenders in the Big Ten must navigate a schedule of nine