Report: Big Ten Considering Starting Season in Late November

There have been a number of discussions recently about when the Big Ten could, and should, reschedule the postponed football season. But essentially all of those discussions have involved options January 1, 2021 or later.

Now, a new report has emerged from CBS' Sports Dennis Dodd and Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the Big Ten is considering a schedule that would allow for a season to begin Thanksgiving week in late November, while keeping the option available to push back until January if necessary. The idea is to play at least eight games.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg and Yahoo! Sports' Pete Thamel also reporting this possibility.

Sources: A start date around Thanksgiving weekend is among the options the #B1G is discussing for the 2020/21 season, as @jaypo1961 first reported. Early January start still getting the most attention. Several coaches have told me a top priority is not altering fall 2021 season.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 28, 2020

Sources: The Big Ten coaches and ADs are discussing multiple start dates for the season – Thanksgiving time, New Year’s Day, mid-January and post SuperBowl. Nothing has been decided or approved by the presidents or TV partners. This is early on in the process.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 28, 2020

There have been several reports this week that the league would consider using domed stadiums in Minneapolis, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis and perhaps Syracuse, N.Y. if they had to play a winter season.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said the conference had no intention of revisiting its decision to postpone fall sports across the league, a stance which has come with great public scrutiny. There have been protests across the league, Justin Fields started a petition that accumulated more than 300,000 signatures and eight Nebraska football players filed a lawsuit against the league in civil court on Thursday.

The Journal-Sentinel notes in their report that the FDA has recently granted emergency approval for a rapid antigen test, which is inexpensive ($5 per test), fast (15-minute turnaround time on results) and doesn't need to be sent to a lab. Cost-effective, accurate, fast testing is only one component to conferences that are trying to navigate this season ... but it is certainly an important component.

Perhaps the biggest question since the report emerged is the timing under consideration. If the conference is thinking about starting in late November, why not start in perhaps early October? That way, there is a legitimate shot of being able to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Playing during some of the traditional fall season and not giving yourself a chance to be included in the CFP seems counter-intuitive.

This is a developing story and will be updated as it's appropriate.

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