Stay with us here, because the back and forth volleys of this unprecedented college football season continues to turn heads and give everyone trying to keep up whiplash and vertigo.
According to a report fro the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Big Ten may now be in discussions to plan for a late fall football season that would begin Thanksgiving weekend.
Yes, you heard that right. After a very early and decisive push by Commissioner Kevin Warren and the Big Ten to shelve the season and dig in on a spring effort to get something off the ground, it now appears as though things could be changing?
And what has brought it about you ask? According to sources cited by the Milwaukee Jornal Sentinel close to the situation, all the protests, outcry, criticism, and legal action have made the league reassess the situation.
Big Ten working on a plan that could feature football starting Thanksgiving weekend. https://t.co/23hspABzKV
— Journal Sentinel (@journalsentinel) August 28, 2020
From the Journal-Sentinel:
“With parents groups continuing to demand Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren further explain the reasons for shutting down the 2020 football season and eight Nebraska players filing a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn that decision, the league’s football coaches continue working on a revised schedule.
According to two college football people familiar with the Big Ten, those talks have generated a new option, starting a Big Ten season of at least eight games the week of Thanksgiving.”
Uh what? I know it’s hard to keep up here, and I wouldn’t completely lock this in yet, but it looks like there may still be some hope that Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten could begin play before the end of the year if this continues to gain more and more traction.
The most recent revelation prior to this, and the plan that the Big Ten was reportedly working on was Buckeye head coach Ryan Day’s plan of beginning the season in early January. However, maybe all the push back has begun to make a difference in the even more aggressive timing.
Either way, it does appear as though there’s at least a pause occurring to reassess the situation, and that’s not a bad thing. We are in a global pandemic, so being all about the safety of the student-athletes is a legitimate concern. But with all the fluidity of the novel coronavirus, available testing, and more monitoring tools becoming available, the ability to take a step back should be allowed to proceed.
Now, here’s the deal — even with the more aggressive start of Thanksgiving weekend, it still doesn’t provide that many games for Ohio State or any other Big Ten member to get into any kind of College Football Playoff chase.
So, there’s that.
But if you are one who is in favor of a season beginning sooner rather than later in the heartland, this has to be an encouraging development.
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