Report: Big Ten Fall Schedule Release Delayed

We continue to wait.

The Big Ten said on July 30 that they would release their plans for a 2020 football schedule "within five days". But it appears there won't be an announcement coming on Tuesday because of how fluid the situation is across the conference.

In listening to the seven Ohio State captains speak to the media on Tuesday, it's clear the Buckeyes want to play football this fall. The captains unanimously agreed that they feel safe and expressed their gratitude for everything the university had done for them to give them a healthy training environment. But they also acknowledged they can only control so much.

For example, they can't control that five other programs around the league have had to temporarily shut down their workouts because of coronavirus outbreaks - including an announcement on Tuesday that Rutgers has 28 confirmed cases of the virus, nearly double the number of cases they reported late last week.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune from Teddy Greenstein, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren is very concerned and he reconsidered the league's next step after learning the latest information at Rutgers.

The latest on #B1G scheduling: After Rutgers outbreak, delay the season? Pull the plug?https://t.co/zAY0vJTA7j
— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) August 4, 2020

It sounds like a decision from the Big Ten on a fall sports season will still come at some point this week, but exactly when is unknown. Commissioner Warren has been outspoken about student-athlete wellness ever since he took over for Jim Delaney in September, 2019 and he's taken time to speak with several student-athletes across the conference to hear their concerns.

A few weeks ago, an athletic director from another conference told me: "Watch the Big Ten." League was first to outline general schedule model. Could also be first to pull back if league determines the environment isn't safe enough to play. https://t.co/uqK4dOhfKQ
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) August 4, 2020

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