Bleak Outlook for Fall Sports Continues As Big Ten Attempting to Finalize Fall Schedule

Preseason football is expected to begin exactly a week from today as head coach Mike Locksley and the Terps look to rebound in year two, but with time running out, there remains little certainty that the August 7 start date will mark the first day of the 2020 fall season. As Michigan State and Rutgers remain quarantined as a result of outbreaks within the program, news emerged on Friday that follows the bleak outlook for fall sports.

“In letter to Big Ten ADs, commissioner Kevin Warren says ‘if we determine as a conference it is not prudent to compete in the fall of 2020, we will not do so,” Brett McMurphy of Stadium Network tweeted.

The news comes just a day after a report stating the SEC is moving closer to a conference-only schedule for the fall that is slated to begin on September 26, three weeks later than the scheduled Labor Day weekend kickoff. The ACC announced plans on Wednesday for an 11-game schedule with ten scheduled conferences games and an option for one non-conference game that must be played in the ACC team’s home state. No other Power Five conference has adapted a similar framework for nonconference matchups, seemingly opening the door for ACC schools to turn to smaller schools to round out their upcoming schedule.

Meanwhile, the NCAA did allow a sliver of good news for student-athletes looking to voice their own message in the fight for social justice reform. Shams Charania tweeted on Thursday that “the NCAA will allow student-athletes in all sports to wear social justice statements on their uniforms, including replacing last name with words to celebrate or memorialize people, events or other causes.”