Big Ten Close to Shutting Down Football; Pac-12 Reportedly Not Far Behind
College football moved closer to a full or partial shutdown for pandemic reasons with reports on Monday that Big Ten presidents have voted 12-2 to not play a fall season —and Pac-12 leaders apparently are not far behind in reaching a similar conclusion.
Formal announcements are expected from both conferences on Tuesday. It's been confirmed that Pac-12 leaders will meet that day and decided whether to attempt to delay games until the spring, as well.
Meantime, the Big 12 and ACC officials are scrambling to decide what to do with their football seasons and their fall sports lineups.
At this point, the SEC — which considers itself college football's super conference in many ways — appears more than willing to entertain the prospect of going it alone and playing this fall.
The Detroit Free-Press first reported the Big Ten presidents' vote, which others have contested, and the certainty of no fall football for the conference. Both Michigan and Michigan State have physicians serving as school presidents. Nebraska coach Scott Frost since has come out and said the Cornhuskers would like to play, with or without the league involved.
Later Monday, the Mountain West Conference announced it was postponing its fall football season, joining the MAC and Big Sky.
There was no immediate comment coming out of the University of Washington regarding its football season, with school officials generally deferring inquiries to the league.
It's a situation that is changing by the hour and ultimately will have huge ramifications on not only college football but the American sporting scene in general.
SI's Pat Forde wrote this insightful commentary on college football's rapidly moving parts. The Washington Post's Sally Jenkins provided this fairly pointed look at a college framework long out of control.
Already, there is ongoing discussion of the NFL moving in and taking over abandoned Friday and Saturday time slots for its games and retreating from a traditional Sunday schedule.
While the college game can't effectively quarantine its players and inhibit the virus spread like it wants, pro football has that ability to control player movement and it has shown no reluctance for pushing ahead with a full season.
No college football this fall, or a partial SEC involvement, also could set in motion untold player movement, with individuals seeking college transfers or changing their minds on recruitment or simply ending their careers and going directly to the NFL when they can.
Or if the NFL is playing and college teams aren't, amateur players could even consider legally challenging their right to turn pro immediately.
All sorts of scenarios emanating from the pandemic intrusion on college football tradition have been envisioned that involve mass player movement, future scheduling and even a greater consolidation of Power 5 teams.
Also, a spring college football season could resemble a huge sporting traffic jam, coming at a time when baseball typically begins play and basketball winds down, with all sports vying for fans and television time all at once.
Washington was expected to open fall practice as early as Aug. 17 and play its first of 10 conference games in a reconfigured schedule against Stanford on Sept. 26 at Husky Stadium. That seems unlikely even with the school's athletes able to avoid a significant virus outbreak when others across the Pac-12 haven't.
The UW athletic program, guided by its renowned university medical team that has been advising the nation's leaders on the novel coronavirus outbreak, has reported nine active cases among its athletes following two months of campus testing.
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