BIG 10 Couldn't Hold Out; Announces Plans to Return to Football

Early Wednesday afternoon, the Big Ten announced their return to football in late October.

It didn't take long for the Big 10 to realize they made an early and seemingly costly mistake; the Power 5 conference announced early Wednesday afternoon to play ball. 

In tow with their announcement, Donald Trump tweeted his approval with the progress, saying he's happy to help push the conference along. The Big 10, which is comprised of Purdue, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Iowa, Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers, seeks to return to the field officially the weekend of October 23-24, 2020.

The Big Ten leadership formed a task force called 'Return to Competition, ' which featured Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. The task force held a virtual teleconference to announce their decision. 

"Our focus with the Task Force over the last six weeks was to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes. Our goal has always been to return to competition so all student-athletes can realize their dream of competing in the sports they love," said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. "We are incredibly grateful for the collaborative work that our Return to Competition Task Force has accomplished to ensure the health, safety, and wellness of student-athletes, coaches, and administrators."

The Big Ten protocol for the safety of college athletes:

• The Big Ten will require student-athletes, coaches, trainers, and other individuals on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing.
• Test results must be completed and recorded before each practice or game.
• All COVID-19 positive student-athletes will have to undergo comprehensive cardiac testing to include labs and biomarkers, ECG, Echocardiogram, and a Cardiac MRI.
• The earliest a student-athlete can return to game competition is 21 days following a COVID-19 positive diagnosis.
• In addition to the medical protocols approved, the 14 Big Ten institutions will establish a cardiac registry to examine COVID-19 positive student-athletes' effects.
• The Big Ten Conference will use data provided by each Chief Infection Officer (CInO) to make decisions about the continuation of practice and competition, as determined by team positivity rate and population positivity rate, based on a seven-day rolling average:
• Team positivity rate (the number of positive tests divided by the total number of tests administered):
• Green 0-2%
• Orange 2-5%
• Red >5%
• Population positivity rate (the number of positive individuals divided by total population at risk):
• Green 0-3.5%
• Orange 3.5-7.5%
• Red >7.5%

Decisions to alter or halt practice and competition will be based on the following scenarios:

• Green/Green and Green/Orange: Team continues with standard practice and competition.
• Orange/Orange and Orange/Red: Team must proceed with caution and enhance COVID-19 prevention (alter practice and meeting schedule, consider the viability of continuing with scheduled competition).
• Red/Red: Team must stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days and reassess metrics until improved.

Testing will commence on September 30th.

The decision to resume play for the Big Ten comes at the heels of Penn State adding 450 positive COVID-19 tests since last Friday, Maryland concluding 46 positive tests among athletes in 48 hours, and Illinois having 784 positive tests over a 10-day period. Wow. But money has to be made, kids want to play, and three other Power 5 conferences are playing, the NFL, and most high schools, why leave out the cool kids?

And surely, there will be fans. The Cleveland Browns had 6,000 fans this past Sunday for their season opener. In conclusion, there is money and opportunity that can't be missed.

The inclusion of the Big Ten will surely change the landscape of the AP top 25 poll. In research, North Carolina will be bumped down three slots to No. 15 with the highest-ranking member of the Big Ten, Ohio State, returning to the number two spot. 

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