What the Big Ten's Decision Means, and What's Next for Football
The Big Ten answered some questions, but raised others, by announcing that it will sponsor a conference-only sports schedule this fall.
What does the decision mean? And what's next for the conference? We'll explore some of those questions here.
What's happening?
Big Ten teams in all sports will play only conference games this fall, assuming there is a fall season. That means schedules will be more compact, require less travel and operate entirely under the Big Ten umbrella.
In a statement, the Big Ten said that it came to the decision after several months of deliberation.
Why conference-only?
The Big Ten said that keeping the fall sports season in-house offers its best opportunity to have a fall season.
"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," the Big Ten said.
"This announcement represents a step, a very important step, that will help provide consistency, clarity and some control over the situation," Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour added.
The Big Ten has its own Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases, which plays a significant role in determining testing and tracing protocols for conference athletes. The Big Ten can set guidelines for all teams regarding testing, handling those athletes who test positive and setting rosters consistently.
Removing teams from other conferences from the mix assures that Big Ten teams start from the same point competitively. The league also can regulate travel, attendance and other factors that might place athletes at risk.
What happens if athletes don't want to play?
Barbour said recently that Penn State athletes who choose not to practice or compete because of COVID-19 will not lose their scholarships. The Big Ten made that a conference-wide edict.
In addition, the Big Ten said that summer workouts will continue to be voluntary. According to the NCAA's new summer training calendar, mandatory workouts were scheduled to begin July 13.
What will football schedules look like?
Rivals.com reported this week that the Big Ten was trending toward a 10-game conference schedule. During an appearance on the Big Ten Network, commissioner Kevin Warren said that scheduling meetings would take place over the next week between teams and broadcast partners.
The Big Ten essentially has a blank canvas on which to build schedules, though it's likely to retain most of the current dates as a starting point. The tricky part will come in how to add cross-division games, should that happen, and how to decide the matchups.
For Penn State, the most logical additions, at least geographically, would be Purdue and Illinois. But the Lions are scheduled to visit Nebraska as well.
Coaches and athletic directors will want some input based on perceived competitiveness. Surely Penn State wouldn't be eager to give up its non-conference games for visits to Minnesota or Wisconsin.
What happens to those non-conference contracts?
This could be a question for a court to decide if the Big Ten can't guarantee those payments. Group of 5 teams, such as those in the MAC that play often against the Big Ten, are going to want to get paid.
But this means there will be a season, right?
Hardly, In his Big Ten Network appearance, Warren said this decision offered no guarantees. It merely was a step to give the Big Ten control over its schedule and the flexibility to adjust it.
Or, yes, cancel it.
"One thing we have to realize is that this is not a fait accompli that we are going to have sports in the fall," Warren said. "We may not have sports in the fall. We may not have a college football season in the Big Ten. So we just wanted to make sure that this is the next logical step."
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