The ax has finally fallen on the 2020 fall football season for the Big Ten after the conference announced that it will be canceling the schedule for its member schools due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The press release included the following quotes.
“Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students, faculty and staff,” said Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Northwestern University President.
“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.
“We know how significant the student-athlete experience can be in shaping the future of the talented young women and men who compete in the Big Ten Conference. Although that knowledge made this a painstaking decision, it did not make it difficult. While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point. Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The announcement will undoubtedly trigger an avalanche of reactions from the other Power Five conferences, including the Pac-12 which is expected to follow suit in the coming days. As for the other three conferences, there are no indications that any of them intend to sit out the season or push things back into spring… yet.
Had a great talk with Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork this a.m. Said that SEC ADs couldn't understand how weekend excitement suddenly gave way to worry. Virus/data hasn't changed. "We're staying the course."
— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) August 11, 2020
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey appeared on the Dan Patrick Show earlier on Tuesday, shedding some light on the issues arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic. By spreading out the preseason schedule and delaying the start of full practices, he believes that the league has an advantage against COVID-19, with added time to evaluate developing situations at member schools. At no point did he give any indication that the SEC is even considering the measures that the Big Ten has taken.
So for now, we are left to wait and see how the other four conferences react to this news. The SEC appears to be entrenched in its efforts to conduct a college football season, but in this wild world of 2020 things can change quickly.
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