Ohio State Fall Sports Seasons Should Soon Have Clarity, Big Ten Schedule Reportedly Being Released Tuesday Morning
This is an extremely important week for the outlook of Ohio State and Big Ten fall athletics. Within the next 48 hours, its very likely that fans will have a clearer picture of what to expect this fall.
First of all, as was reported late last week, the Big Ten is expected to publicize its plans for the fall sports season "very soon". Brandon Brown on Wolverine Digest is reporting that the schedule will be released tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM. The ACC, SEC and Pac-12 have all posted their respective schedules for the fall and the Big Ten is expected follow suit, as soon as today. But the fact is, even if they release a schedule with their intentions to play this fall, that doesn't mean games will certainly happen. There is still a lot left to be determined. But having a schedule is a lot better than not having a schedule.
The other big domino that should fall this week is more broad. The NCAA Board of Governors is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday (tomorrow) after delaying a decision on fall sports championships nearly two weeks ago. The board was expected to cancel all fall championships at their last meeting, but SI Insider Pat Forde says an 11th-hour request from DI-administrators was enough to persuade the board to delay a vote.
However, Forde's Sunday story on SI.com indicates that the board will likely cancel/postpone all Division II and III championships while again holding off on a decision at Division I. He says that delay won't be well-received on DI campuses that are looking for clarity on how to proceed this fall.
Even if the DI championships are canceled by the NCAA, the College Football Playoff is a separate entity (owned and operated by the conferences/schools) and major college football could still hold their championship if they so choose. There are also rumors of the Power Five conferences beginning discussions about what a "Power Five National Championship" could look like for the sports which the NCAA canceled tournaments, but those discussions haven't reportedly gained significant traction quite yet.
No matter what, Buckeye fans should have a better understanding of what the fall looks like in the coming days.
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