Talks Held by Big Ten Leaders, Pac-12 Coaches on Idled Football
While Big Ten leaders examine the latest medical information and consider launching a football season as early as mid-October, Pac-12 football coaches recently met and sounded optimistic about playing games again — though nothing has been settled.
Arizona State coach Herm Edwards, in a Phoenix radio interview, described a gathering that involved him and his Pac-12 football peers as upbeat, lifted by news of a COVID-19 testing breakthrough for the conference.
"Eventually, I think we're going to get to a mode where we get to practicing," Edwards told Arizona Sports' Doug & Wolf on Monday. "We had a meeting with the Pac-12 coaches last week and things sound a while lot better for us as a conference."
Yet the ASU coach offered a timeframe for games that won't come close to satisfying impatient players and fans who deem the Pac-12 as being overly cautious while other pro and college teams play.
"Maybe late December or January to play a shortened season," Edwards said to his radio hosts. "It sounded pretty optimistic, so that's a good thing."
ESPN, however, reports that the Pac-12 is considering mid-November for its earliest possible return date. The conference is closely watching the actions of the Big Ten, no doubt concerned about being the only Power 5 group not playing football at some point.
The Pac-12 is poised to act should the Big Ten make any pronouncement this week on the resumption of football, a source said.
A big obstacle is public health officials still haven't cleared California or Oregon as states to resume large gatherings that would enable practices, let alone games.
Big Ten representatives met on Sunday without voting on starting the football season. Reports have them considering Oct. 17 as a possible first date or sometime in early November, though logistics could make that tough.
A Big Ten revote could take place at any time. The conference postponed the season on Aug. 11 following an 11-3 vote in which only Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa provided wanted to push forward.
Meantime, the Pac-12 and Quidel Crop last week agreed to a partnership that would enable novel coronavirus testing with a 15-minute turnaround to provide results at practices and games, which is encouraging to all. Testing will be available by the end of the month.
"We're going to restart when the doctors say we can restart," ASU's Edwards said. "I'm not a doctor, so I'm not going to get into that argument. I think with the new testing now that's available to us, a 15-minute turnaround, that's going to help tremendously."
The Big 12 and ACC began regular seasons this past weekend, though a half-dozen college football games were canceled because of campus virus spikes. The SEC won't play games until Sept. 26.
The Big Ten's apparent about-face on football comes as several other Power 5 schools and NFL teams opened their seasons over the weekend, making it hard for the idle college teams to sit and watch.
As it turns out, the Big Ten would return with games just six weeks later than the season openers originally scheduled prior to the pandemic if the Oc. 17 date is used.
Players at the University of Washington were left this past weekend to bemoan their inactive status on social media, such as freshman wide receiver Jalen McMillan from Fresno, California, tweeting the following.
UW sophomore linebacker Jackson Sirmon tried to make the best of it with his Seahawks-related tweet, as players watched the hometown NFL debut and win.
From the Big Ten, quarterback Justin Fields, the Georgia transfer at Ohio State, tried to offer hope to his fellow conference players, tweeting the following.
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