The Big Ten doesn’t mind being the conference to help set the tone for what the future of collegiate athletics will look like.
That much was evidenced by the league’s initial additions of USC and UCLA and then the follow-up additions this summer of Oregon and Washington.
Now, the Big Ten looks to be on the forefront of another massive change in college sports. The Big Ten announced at the end of last week that it will debut a gameday student-athlete availability report for all football games beginning this season.
The league also partnered with U.S. Integrity (USI) to enhance monitoring efforts and provide additional educational resources to help prevent student-athletes, coaches, and staff from engaging in prohibited sports wagering.
“The well-being of our students, coaches, and staff, as well as the integrity of our competitions are of paramount importance. Enhanced transparency through availability reporting and partnering with U.S. Integrity strengthens our efforts to protect those who participate in our games as well as the integrity of the games themselves. I’m grateful for the collaboration of our schools, coaches, and administrators,” Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said.
Big Ten schools are required to submit gameday availability reports to the league office no later than two hours before scheduled kickoff times.
The #B1G Conference Announces U.S. Integrity (@USintegrity) Partnership and Gameday Availability Report for 2023 Football Season
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) August 25, 2023
On Tuesday, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared his thoughts on the new gameday availability reports.
“I have no problem with it at all. It’s probably a good initiative. Basically that’s really where players are. They’re either able to go, still some question, or they’re not able to go.
“One thing we’ve done the last couple years at least is I’ll typically let our SID know that a guy couldn’t go so there’s not the rumor mill going in the social media world, like did this guy do whatever or has he got malaria or whatever it may be. Just to put all that stuff to rest. I’m good with it,” Ferentz said.
Iowa kicks off its 2023 season versus Utah State this Saturday, Sept. 2, at 11 a.m. on FS1 from inside Kinnick Stadium. With where we currently stand, fans will anxiously be awaiting that initial availability report to find out the latest on quarterback Cade McNamara’s status versus the Aggies.
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