Schedules Will Be Living Documents If Big Ten Brings Back Football

Throughout the entire COVID-19 debacle, finding a schedule and sticking to it may be the biggest challenge yet.

With three Power Five conferences set to begin their seasons soon, it is difficult to imagine that they will play a full season exactly the way the games are laid out. 

Back when the Big Ten released its conference-only slate last month, one aspect that showed a great deal of foresight was how each team would have had three built in bye weeks in case games needed to be shuffled around. Given the state of COVID-19, it seems to be more of a case of when those bye weeks are used and not if they will be. 

According to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, many of the powers at be are already aware of the likelihood of schedule interruptions and are already working to prepare for it. Specifically, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has already covered this ground ahead of the 2020 season. 

"Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby has continually warned that there could be what calls "disruptions" that will occur in the fall season due to COVID-19," Dodd wrote. "Next to having to cancel the season altogether, having to postpone or interrupt it is the next-highest concern of the stakeholders."

Much of the fear of canceling or postponing games does not come from on-field transmission but from spreading the virus before and after games. As college students who are traveling, it is difficult if not impossible to control their activity and whereabouts at all times. 

So far, the NHL and the NBA have demonstrated that they can engineer a bubble environment where teams can safely coexist and the respective leagues can truly have a hands-on approach to how the season unfolds. In baseball, on the other hand, the league is not working with a bubble system, and numerous teams have had to move games back in the schedule or quarantine for various amounts of time. In practice, the MLB schedule is more of a living document at this point that is amended as teams see fit. And when the college football season kicks off, that is likely what will happen this fall too. 

Focusing on the Big 12, the conference released its schedule with two built-in bye weeks midway throughout the season to provide some leeway once scheduling issues roll around. The league championship is scheduled for either the week directly after the regular season ends or the week after that, so in a way there is a third week where games can be played if need be. 

If the Big Ten is able to gather soon and vote to reinstate the 2020 season, it is likely that Michigan and other schools would have to shift some games around too. Though U-M has had one of the more successful testing protocols in the conference, not all programs have had the same results. When Ohio State returned to campus, their squad reported lots of student-athletes who had contracted the virus, and that's the reality that needs to be understood. Although Michigan has done well to control its environment, not every other Big Ten school has-- and that jeopardizes everybody. 

For instance, the University of Tennessee is one school who is battling through a wave of both injuries and COVID-19 cases right now. According to Volunteer Country, Tennessee has 44 players sitting out from practice, but who is to say that this could not be the case for a game week? If Tennessee were slated to play this Saturday, the team could be missing nearly half of its depth, and this is something that could severely impact the quality of football on the field and may lead to postponements as well. 

Do you think the Big Ten will move to reinstate the fall football season? When will Michigan take the field next? Let us know!