I have to admit, my time has been consumed lately with chasing down every avenue of where things stand with the potential of the Big Ten casting a re-vote to reinstitute a fall football season. And it hasn’t been easy.
We’ve seen very reputable sources say far different things over the last few weeks, and it’s been about as hard of a story to get a handle on than any that I’ve covered during my time writing about sports.
I can only come to one conclusion over it: Things continue to change even within the close circle of folks that do know what’s going on, and that are right in the room where things are happening (obligatory Hamilton reference).
Just take the last day or so. There were reports that the medical information poured over went so well that all 14 presidents and chancellors from the Big Ten were to meet on Sunday. Reportedly, that had a good chance of leading to a vote to make Big Ten football great again (MBTFGA). But then Sunday went, and went, and went some more without any earth-shattering news that would have made all of the Midwest visit White Castle and Graeter’s in celebration. Alas, there were then confirmed reports that no vote took place at all.
But, there’s still expected to be one here in the next day or two, so we await what the smoke leads to. We think. We only think we know because earlier reports stated that a vote was supposed to take place the weekend before. That of course, never occurred.
One of the other things that’s been more of a mystery than Bigfoot howels is if all the teams will be playing, or if some will sit the season out if the re-vote gets the conference playing again.
And again, we have differing reports on that. Dan Patrick said on his program earlier Monday that his source tells him that both Michigan and Michigan State, among others, may sit things out. He also said to expect a vote sometime today.
“Not everybody in the Big Ten’s going to play,” Patrick said citing his source. “But there is real optimism to what I heard yesterday from my source… There’s a whole lot going on in the Big Ten. What we might see is eight teams, nine teams that are going to be able to play.”
Patrick went on to expand on those remarks, and if you’d like an update from him and trust what he says, have a listen.
DP on B1G: "The Presidents and Chancellors will vote today. Mich. probably not going to play, Mich. St. not going to play, Maryland's probably [won't] play. But you're going to get Nebraska, Iowa, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio St. Wisconsin wants to play but may not be able to." pic.twitter.com/6QiusRB5t1
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) September 14, 2020
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But that wasn’t all. According to another report from everyone’s favorite reporter in Columbus, Stadium’s Brett McMurphy, he said his sources say that every team in the conference will play. That means it’s an all or nothing proposition.
If Big Ten presidents/chancellors vote to play football in the fall, then all B1G schools will play, sources told @Stadium. Earlier reports indicated if presidents voted to play, some B1G schools might opt not to play, but that will not be the case, source said
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 14, 2020
So what’s the real story here? At this point, there’s really no way to figure it all out because, as I mentioned, I think it’s a moving and evolving situation. So here’s what we know (or think we know) right now.
The Big Ten appears to be on the cusp of a vote to bring a fall season back. It could and most likely will happen in the next day or two. It looks like the most talked about date to begin week one is on or around October 17 with an eight or nine-game schedule. There will be a Big Ten Championship Game right before the last College Football Playoff Rankings come out.
From there, how many teams are involved, how the Big Ten teams will be viewed and measured, and what the price of tea in China is at the moment, all remain to be seen until we get some real information from the Big freakin’ Ten.
I can’t almost guarantee we’ll have more for you on this later today because that’s how quickly things are changing. Until then, keep everything you hear and see with a grain of salt the size of the venerable Horseshoe on the banks of the Olentangy.
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