Big Ten to Play Conference Only Games in 2020
A day after the Ivy League conference announced the cancellation of its fall athletics seasons, the Big Ten announced a conference-only schedule for the upcoming 2020 season fall sports. It was first reported by Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic.
Shortly after Auerbach's tweet, the Big Ten released this statement:
We are facing uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, game officials, and others associated with our sports programs and campuses remain our number one priority.
To that end, the Big Ten Conference announced today that if the Conference is able to participate in fall sports (men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball) based on medical advice, it will move to Conference-only schedules in those sports. Details for these sports will be released at a later date, while decisions on sports not listed above will continue to be evaluated. By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the Conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic.
This decision was made following many thoughtful conversations over several months between the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, Directors of Athletics, Conference Office staff, and medical experts including the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.
The Ivy League was the first conference to announce they were cancelling their conference basketball tournament, as well as the spring sports season. They were criticized for their early cancellation, but two days later, everyone else followed suit.
While it's not a cancellation of the entire fall sports schedule for the Big Ten, this will have ramifications across the landscape of college football. Michigan was scheduled to face Washington on the road on Sept. 5, and there are several other high-profile Big Ten non-conference games that were scheduled.
Iowa State was scheduled to face Iowa this season and West Virginia was scheduled to face Maryland. Other non-Big 12 match ups that have now been affected are Nebraska-Cincinnati, Wisconsin-Notre Dame, Michigan State-Miami, Ohio State-Oregon and Penn State-Virginia Tech.
With the Big Ten's decision to cancel non-conference games, it's possible we could see other Power Five and Group of Five conferences make similar announcements in the coming days.
