Michigan Football Chatter: Why The Big Ten Canceled Its Fall Season
The Big Ten's postponement of the 2020 fall sports season did not go over well with its athletes, coaches and fans, and Nebraska has even threatened to leave the Big Ten for the chance to participate with the Big 12 this fall. Was it a decision that HAD to be made? Some say yes, some say no.
Dr. Preeti Malani, the Chief Health Officer at the University of Michigan whose specialty is infectious diseases, appeared on CNN Wednesday to try to explain why there will be no Big Ten (or Pac 12) football this fall.
Meanwhile, Michigan President Mark Schlissel and Athletics Director Warde Manuel both released canned statements that didn't answer any of the pressing questions, which drew ire from at least one Wolverine, fifth-year senior walk-on Tyler Cochran, "Presidents of the Big Ten decided, despite constant testing and strict protocols, that the voices of the players were irrelevant and cancelled the season," he wrote on Instagram.
Cochran went on to slam Schlissel for never talking to the players or meeting with him in his 4+ years a member of the team.
While Cochran has a legitimate beef with the lack of transparency from decision-makers and the lack of conversation between the presidents and the student-athletes/coaches the decision to postpone the season ultimately impacts, the concern over protocols being followed is, according to one U-M source, a big part of the reason the Big Ten found itself in this position.
"The Big Ten didn't think it could keep its players/coaches safe because the precautions, testing and resources are not equal across the board and not everyone in the league can minimize the outbreak, as we've already seen," the source shared, alluding to major outbreaks in July from Rutgers, Michigan State, Ohio State and Maryland that forced workouts to be suspended.
"Could six or seven teams have played with minimum risk? Probably, but the B10 had to make a decision with all 14 institutions in mind because some of the programs with the biggest issues would have wanted to play, at great risk to the whole, if we went forward."
If you recall, back in early July I wrote a "chatter" article about the serious concerns about a lack of Big Ten leadership: "The most disappointing thing is the complete lack of leadership from the Big Ten and NCAA - I think the leaders are scared to death about taking responsibility and so it's every school president and athletic director for themselves," a Michigan coach said.
That lack of leadership was seemingly resolved in recent weeks as Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren issued statements on uniform testing and safety standards, and then as the league announced it was going to a conference-only schedule, but it was too little too late as far as many were concerned.
The plan also lacked financial backing.
Testing, testing accurately and getting legitimate results up to three times per week costs money (some estimates were anywhere from $100,000-$300,000 per week per school). That's a few million per school when budgets are already tight (though much tighter now) and college programs have become notorious for spending as much money as they make.
According to Michigan AD Warde Manuel, the U-M athletic department was projecting a budget surplus of $1 million for 2020 before COVID hit. That's on revenues north of $150 million (per USA Today's most recent financial report, Michigan made $197 million in 2018-19). But Big Ten institutions (and Pac 12 and SEC and ACC, etc.) spend money just as fast as they make it, often leaving schools without financial reserves.
"When you look at what needed to take place this fall, some schools couldn't afford the testing and some schools weren't following the protocols strictly enough, plus you try telling 115 players on each team not to have a social life," a source at the Big Ten offices in Chicago shared. "It just wasn't going to work and it already wasn't working. We're just getting ahead of it."
So how will it work in the SEC, ACC and potentially Big 12? According to multiple sources both at Michigan and in the Big Ten we spoke to, there's only one way: by turning a blind eye to it.
"A nuclear bomb could go off in Alabama, and the SEC would play football that week," said one insider, clearly exaggerating. Or not.
Where this leaves the Big Ten and Pac 12 (who also shut down its fall sports season) relative to their Power 5 brethren represents the biggest unanswered question as a result of postponing the season. Will Big Ten teams get raided for talent assuming the NCAA would grant immediate eligibility? It's possible. Will recruits bail on the Big Ten/Pac 12? Also possible (though they're not eligible for 2021 anyway).
Will athletic departments collapse without revenues? Almost certainly. Football will always be in demand and schools like Michigan and Ohio State will survive and return, but a number of Olympic sports teams could see their programs shuttered while athletic administrators will be facing layoffs, facility renovations come to a grinding halt and some schools with smaller budgets might not even be able to restart their athletic departments without significant bailouts.
One of the other questions being asked is if the Big Ten/Pac 12 (plus Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference) would be forced to go it alone in future seasons if there is a schism in the sport.
"A number of Big Ten leaders are convinced this is the moment to pull away from the NCAA and form a new governing body with the Pac 12, MAC and Mountain West as members too.
"Big Ten schools would play Pac 12 and MAC opponents in the non-conference while Pac 12 would get Big Ten and Mountain West opponents. The Big Ten and Pac 12 champs meet in the Rose Bowl like the good old days while they match up Big Ten and Pac 12 teams for postseason games.
"Ideally, the rest of the Power 5 also pulls away from the NCAA, everyone licks their wounds but ultimately puts aside egos and bad feelings, and we can have a legitimate playoff and national champion, but if the Big Ten/Pac 12 need to go one way and the SEC/ACC goes another, so be it."
One final note, lots of talk about Nebraska playing in the Big 12 this season, though one of the leading media voices in Lincoln, Sean Callahan, suggest everyone take a deep breath: "Will Nebraska swallow their pride and just keep their head down after coming out so strong on Monday? Or will they come out and try to test the situation even more? If the Huskers schedule games outside of the Big Ten, they are no longer a member of the conference.
"Is that a risk worth taking without any guarantees? At this point probably not. There are obviously no guarantees the other leagues will end up playing."
If the Cornhuskers push forward with the idea of exiting the Big Ten, there won't be many tears.
"If they want out, go for it," a Michigan source said (though he used more colorful language I needed to tone down). "They've provided less value to the B10 than Rutgers and Maryland because their TV market sucks and they offer nothing in terms of recruiting opportunities.
"Competitively, they've been a huge disappointment."
In the East-West version of the Big Ten, adopted in 2014, Nebraska was supposed to bring balance to the divisions, but the Huskers are a collective 37-38 in the last six years, have never won the West, and have never finished in the AP postseason Top 25.
"There is an arrogance that they did the Big Ten a favor by joining in 2011, but they're not Notre Dame. Their national brand was never as strong as they thought it was."
