With the NCAA Division I council to vote on whether teams can begin team activities and have student-athletes report to campus as soon as June 1 on Wednesday, the Big 12 may not be so quick to jump the gun.
Per a report from 247Sports, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby is more in favor of a mid to late June return for Big 12 student-athletes’ return to campuses. The sentiment stems from presidents and chancellors of the Big 12’s member schools.
“If I were going to handicap it I would say we are more likely later in the month of June than we are on June 1, but I could be wrong on that,” Bowlsby told Brandon Marcello of 247Sports.
Big 12 facing decision when to allow athletes to return. Bob Bowlsby: “It could be earlier in June, it could be mid-June, it could be late June or early July. … We have to get back by sometime around the middle of July because otherwise we’ll have to push the season back."
— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) May 18, 2020
Bowlsby said that a mid-June/early July return would have to happen because if they were to return later that the college football season should be pushed back.
When it comes to securing testing and implementing proper protocols, each member institution will be responsible for themselves but Bowlsby said that the Big 12 is going to do what’s in the best interest of their student-athletes “first and foremost”.
Despite all outside factors, Oklahoma is still set to open the 2020 football season, playing host to Missouri State on September 5.
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