Report: Big Ten Moving to Cancel 2020 Football Season
Several major outlets are now reporting that the Big Ten will be the first Power 5 conference to cancel football for 2020.
The Detroit Free Press reported Monday morning that the conference held a vote on Sunday and voted 12-2 to push fall sports out of the 2020 calendar year altogether.
The move reportedly comes after the Mid-American conference cancelled its 2020 season last week, becoming the first FBS league to do so.
The news coincides with reports that the Power 5 conferences held an emergency meeting on Sunday where canceling or postponing the 2020 fall sports season was the top topic of discussion.
According to a recent report from SI's Pat Forde and Ross Dellenger, talks centered around the potential postponement of the 2020 football season.
“It’s gotten to a critical stage,” one conference commissioner told Sports Illustrated Sunday, after a conference call between the heads of the Power 5 conferences. “I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun.”
While some believe other conferences will follow suit and make similar decisions, there is some evidence to suggest leagues like the Big 12 are at least keeping their options on the table for now.
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsbly told the Des Moines Register:
I've literally been on dozens of calls with doctors and scientists and no one has told us to stop. We'll keep trying to move ahead, although it would be less than forthright to sit here and not add that the last 30 days have not gone the way we would like. That has to be factored into the process. We've probably not made progress, but we've had no one tell us to shut it down.
The truth is everything is up in the air right now and this week will likely be one of the most insane we've ever seen in the history of college football.
Stay tuned.
