Big Ten moves to 10-game, conference-only football schedule for 2020

The dominoes might start falling in this direction

We said earlier this week at Trojans Wire that conferences and schools would need to consider alternative plans for a possible 2020 college football season.

The Big Ten has taken that advice and gone one step further: It has signaled where it is likely to go.

Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic had the story first, and other outlets picked it up: The Big Ten is expected to announce a 10-game, conference-only football schedule for the fall.

This decision is significant for a number of obvious reasons. You might already know exactly what they are, but for the sake of clarity in a highly unusual and fluid situation, let’s briefly present the four biggest newsmaker items of this decision:

  1. You are now more likely to see other Power Five conferences, including the Pac-12, move to a conference-game-only scheduling model. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News made the point earlier this week when he recommended a conference-game-only schedule for the Pac-12: Conferences need to have tight control and uniformity of procedure in any games involving their teams. This is clearly why the Big Ten preferred 10 conference games over a model with nine conference games (the normal length of a Big Ten conference-game schedule) and one nonconference game. This is why the Big Ten would rather have Iowa play a tenth conference game than have nine nonconference games and one nonconference game against Iowa State. The travel distance might be minimal for an Iowa-Iowa State game, but the Big Ten did not want the headache of having to coordinate on policy and procedure with the Big 12. This is precisely why conference-only schedules will follow from some conferences in the Power Five, and probably in the Group of Five as well. A key final note: Unlike the Ivy League deciding to postpone fall sports, this is the kind of action other Power Five conferences will take seriously, because it is part of their own membership. This — unlike the Ivies’ decision on Wednesday — is connected to the range of schools with huge budgets and a great financial need to play football (for the TV money).
  2. The second big story flows from the first one above: With no nonconference games in the Big Ten this season, that means Michigan-Washington (Sept. 5), Ohio State-Oregon (Sept. 12), Penn State-Virginia Tech (Sept. 12), Miami-Michigan State (Sept. 26), and Notre Dame-Wisconsin (Oct. 3) are wiped off the slate. Again, the Big Ten didn’t want to have to coordinate across conferences or with outside institutions. Logistics and procedures can be more easily streamlined if the conference keeps everything in house. You don’t have to like it, but that’s the reason for this.
  3. The smaller schools — FBS (Group of Five) and FCS — who can’t play Big Ten teams in 2020 will not get the revenues they were counting on. If other Power Five conferences move to conference-only schedules, more lower-tier football schools will be deprived of crucial revenue. The financial bloodbath you’re beginning to see across college sports is only going to get much, much worse. There’s no point in pretending it won’t, or hoping the government will provide widespread and generous bailouts for all the schools negatively affected.
  4. How will this affect nonconference scheduling for 2021? Will college football decision makers agree to slide back the whole schedule a year, so that — for instance — Ohio State can go to Oregon next year? Or, will these nonconference games never be played? Stay tuned for more on this.