Tuesday Blog: Big Ten Postpones All Fall Sports, Including Football
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Big Ten has officially cancelled its 2020 fall football season, with new Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren making the announcement Tuesday afternoon in a statement from the league.
The Big Ten is reportedly hoping to play its season in the spring. The Big Ten is the first Power 5 conference to make a decision about football.
Here's our blog of the day's events'
View the Big Ten's statement below:
The Big Ten Conference announced the postponement of the 2020-21 fall sports season, including all regular-season contests and Big Ten Championships and Tournaments, due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In making its decision, which was based on multiple factors, the Big Ten Conference relied on the medical advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.
“Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students, faculty and staff,” said Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Northwestern University President.
“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.
“We know how significant the student-athlete experience can be in shaping the future of the talented young women and men who compete in the Big Ten Conference. Although that knowledge made this a painstaking decision, it did not make it difficult. While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point. Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The fall sports included in this announcement are men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball. The Big Ten Conference will continue to evaluate a number of options regarding these sports, including the possibility of competition in the spring. Decisions regarding winter and spring sports will also continue to be evaluated.
The Big Ten Conference is proud of its 14 world-class research institutions and has leveraged their resources and expertise to address this pandemic over the past five months. The Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee have engaged in extensive research and sharing of materials and conversations with federal, state and local government agencies, and professional and international sports organizations in order to track and better understand the daily updates surrounding this pandemic. Their advice and counsel have been invaluable as they have worked tirelessly over the past several months in their efforts to create and maintain a safe environment for athletics.
The Big Ten Conference will continue to work with medical experts and governmental authorities to gather additional information, evaluate emerging data and technologies, and monitor developments regarding the pandemic to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes.
The latest: Big Ten expected to announce season is postponed
UPDATED 2:45 p.m. — Bruce Feldman tweeted that the Big Ten's presidents have voted to postpone the 2020 college football season with hopes of playing in the spring.
The announcement is expected to come from the Big Ten at 3 p.m. eastern.
James Franklin joins ESPN's "Get Up" to discuss his desire to play, options for delayed season
11:30 a.m. ET — Penn State coach James Franklin put out a statement yesterday on Twitter imploring the Big Ten to continue to evaluate things before making a decision.
On Tuesday, Franklin joined ESPN's "Get Up" to talk about his reasoning for that.
"You're coming up with these other models, so when we say, 'OK, we are playing college football or we aren't playing college football,' that now we can list out what our plan is for the future," Franklin said.
Franklin also discussed that if the Big Ten pushes the season back a little bit, they have resources to combat the weather if it's played in the winter.
"We have the ability to use the domes in the Big Ten," Franklin said. "We could use the domes in Detroit, in Minnesota and Indianapolis and do Big Ten weekends at those venues from a weather perspective."
Big Ten presidents expected to meet at 10:30 a.m. to make decision
10:30 a.m. ET — The Big Ten's presidents were expected to meet at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning to discuss its decision on college football this fall, as first reported by ESPN's Heather Dinich.
In Dinich's report, it said the Big Ten might consider pushing back its start date to Sept. 26. Most of the Power 5 conferences already have their schedules beginning around that time, so the Big Ten was the only one starting in early September.
"Although they are still considering becoming the first FBS conference to postpone fall sports, the majority of their athletic directors aren't ready to 'pull the plug,' the source said."
There has been no reveal on the Big Ten's meeting or decision yet, but it's possible the result could just be delaying the final decision.
Whop Philyor officially endorses #WeWantToPlay movement
Indiana wide receiver Whop Philyor has been very vocal about wanting to play this season.
When he met with the Indiana media last week, Philyor said he felt like the "Tasmanian Devil" being trapped in quarantine and he was ready to get out and play.
Philyor joined the movement among college football players, tweeting #WeWantToPlay and #WeWantASeason with the graphic stating the athletes' desires to play this season.
Ryan Day shocked by cancellation reports
UPDATED: Monday, 7 p.m. ET — Ohio State coach Ryan Day went on ESPN2 today and he said he was shocked when he heard reports that the Big Ten might cancel the season.
"We have to at the very least, postpone it, and allow us a little bit of time to keep reevaluating everything that's going on," Day said. "That's the reason why we put this schedule together, to have some flexibility."
"We owe it to these kids to exhaust every single option we possibly can and then we go from there."
Day joined the show following his tweet from earlier in the day, which can be seen near the bottom of this article, about fighting for the players and making sure they get their 2020 season.
Nebraska willing to play elsewhere
UPDATED: Monday, 4:30 p.m. ET — Nebraska football coach Scott Frost told ESPN's Mark Schlabach that Nebraska might look elsewhere for games if the Big Ten shuts down this fall.
"We're a proud member of the Big Ten," Frost said during a Zoom teleconference with reporters. "We want to play a Big Ten schedule. I think the only reason we would look at any other options is if for some reason the Big Ten wasn't playing and only a handful of teams from the Big Ten wanted to continue playing. I think if that's the case, I think we're prepared to look at any and all options."
Nebraska president Walter E. Carter Jr. and athletic director Bill Moos haven't commented on the day's events.
"I know where our university president stands, and he wants to play," Frost said.
Frost, like many coaches around the Big Ten, feels like he can keep his players safer by keeping them all together, not spread out all over the country.
"If we send kids home, they're going to be in closer contact with a lot of family members and other people that might be at higher risk for coronavirus than if we keep them here in an environment, where they're around other healthy, young people," Frost said. "If I had a son, I would want him playing football. I think this is the safest place he could be, and a lot of schools around the conference probably feel the same way, that the safest environment we can put these guys in is an environment where they're being monitored constantly, being screened, being tested, being taken care of [and] being protected if they do get sick.
"I'm passionate about this because our guys want to play. I'm proud of who they are and they decisions they've made. I think it's our responsibility to make sure they respect this virus. I'm not a doctor and I don't understand a lot of these things. The medical experts that we're leaning on are the ones that are guiding our decisions."
