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Dan Patrick Previews The Big Ten's Upcoming Re-Vote
Ever since news broke that the Big Ten is targeting Oct. 10 as a potential return date for fall football, conference officials have remained remarkably quiet.
Some could take this as a sign that discussion is not occuring, but Dan Patrick, who initially sparked the possibility of an October return, pointed out that a lack of public communication could be a positive sign as it pertains to the return of football.
Earlier today, Wolverine Digest's Michael Spath penned a piece that focused on a potential re-vote regarding a fall football season. While many details are still unknown, it appears that a combination of school presidents/chancellors could vote as early as tomorrow on either reversing the original decision or a new vote altogether about season cancellation.
Now, Spath's article does a quality job of breaking down the many avenues that could unfold when this prospective vote takes place. Originally, a trio of Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio State voted against cancelling the football season, so it is reasonable to suspect those schools to maintain that same position.
But in order for any traction to occur, multiple schools will have to break from their earlier decision and join OSU, Nebraska and Iowa. At least four schools would need to vote in that direction to force a tie at seven apiece, and then a fifth school would need to backtrack for the original decision to be reversed in theory.
Even if the Big Ten decides to reverse its original decision and to move forward with a fall football season, the conference might not be playing with its full contingent of 14 teams. Several schools may still decide to opt out due to health and safety concerns for their students.
"I don't think Northwestern is playing," Patrick said. "They have been [against playing] from what I have been told-- and Illinois. But I think it had something to do with state-wide in Illinois on testing, just travel. Same with Rutgers with travel going into New Jersey, and then I don't know what's happening with Maryland. Haven't heard anything about Maryland. You might have 10 schools that say, 'hey, let's go,' and then four that don't go."
Michigan President Mark Schlissel has faced a great deal of criticism over the last several weeks regarding his decision to vote yes on cancelling the fall football season. In fact, a protest is scheduled at Michigan Stadium for Saturday, Sept. 5, which was supposed to be the day of Michigan's season opener on the road against Washington. This event is intended to show disdain for Schlissel's earlier vote and to support moving forward with the 2020 season in as safe of a way as possible.
However, there has not been a clear indication in either direction on whether or not Schlissel has changed his mind. On the surface, Michigan seems like one of the schools most likely to push for a football season given the overall success of the program and how much revenue it brings in for the school, but this is an unprecedented situation and Schlissel is believed to prioritize health and safety over monetary concerns.
Wolverine Digest will continue to update this story as the situation develops.
Do you think the Big Ten has a good chance to play football this fall? What do you think the outcome of a re-vote will be? Let us know!
