We noted in July that Oklahoma and Kansas scheduled games on August 29, and that TCU was looking into the possibility of playing UNLV on the same date. Those developments pointed to a specific line of thought among Big 12 schools: They were trying to play as many games as possible, not merely 10.
Now, the Big 12 has changed course. Our partners at Sooners Wire, picking up on reporting from Max Olson and Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic on Monday evening, passed along the news that the Big 12 Board of Directors has approved a nine-plus-one plan — nine conference games, one nonconference game — for the league this season.
If a plan with only one nonconference game is the Big 12’s response to the pandemic, that means those August 29 games are not going to happen. The Big 12 will try to start its season in mid-to-late September. Those weeks spent pursuing a 12- or 11-game schedule didn’t amount to anything in the end. It’s true that the Big 12 at least made an effort to help out FCS and Group of Five programs — certainly more than the other Power Five conferences did — but in the end, the Big 12’s one nonconference game is the same as the ACC’s allotment of non-con games. None of the Power Five leagues scheduled more than one nonconference contest.
The final overview of adjusted schedules: The Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC went with 10-game conference-only schedules. The ACC went with a 10-plus-1 schedule. The Big 12 checks in with 9-plus-1. This does not reflect a uniform approach among all of the Power Five conferences, but it does reveal a lot less variation than one might have expected two weeks ago. Then, it seemed the Big 12 might play 12 games, the SEC two nonconference games, and the ACC two nonconference games as well. Instead, no league went with two non-con games, and four of the five leagues went with 10 conference games.
The next big moment in this very fluid, very uncertain theater of college sports in a pandemic will be the Big Ten’s decision on whether to map out a schedule or simply fold the tent and call it a year. There has been speculation that the Big Ten won’t even go through with a schedule. There has also been talk that if the Big Ten does try to play football this season, it will start earlier than the other leagues, on Sept. 5. That decision obviously has to come fairly soon.
Stay tuned.