For those of you looking forward to college football, one of the biggest conferences in the league just canceled:
NY POST – The Big Ten blinked first.
The conference became the first in the Power 5 to cancel its 2020 football season on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reported. Facing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the league’s presidents voted 12-2 to not play fall sports, according to the report — with only Nebraska and Iowa voting to play, Dan Patrick reported on his radio show. The Power 5 conferences met Sunday to discuss cancelling the 2020 season.
The home of powerhouses like Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin — which, along with Minnesota and Iowa, were all included in the preseason Top 25 Coaches’ poll — became the second FBS conference to cancel its season after the MAC was the first on Saturday. UConn, an independent, was the first FBS school to cancel its season. The Big Ten had previously shifted to a conference-only schedule.
The Big Ten is expected to make the official announcement Tuesday, according to the Free Press. Patrick reported the Pac-12 is also going to cancel its 2020 season, with the SEC, ACC and Big 12 holding on for now.
So kids in New York can go to school across the state, but college football players in the Big Ten can’t play because of the coronavirus?
It’s starting to feel like March again, when everything suddenly canceled because of the coronavirus.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh made what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to reverse course Monday, issuing a statement that claimed “this virus can be controlled and handled.”
“I would like to address the rumors that are swirling today,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not advocating for football this fall because of my passion or our players desire to play but because of the facts accumulated over the last eight weeks since our players returned to campus on June 13.”
Harbaugh cited 11 positive tests out of 893 administered to the football program, including two out of the last 417 and zero out of the last 353. He said Michigan’s health and safety guidelines have been followed and could be an example for others to match.
“This isn’t easy. This is hard,” Harbaugh said. “We have developed a great prototype for how we can make this work and provide the opportunity for players to play. If you are transparent and follow the rules, this is how it can be done.”
Forget the facts, fear seems to rule the day in the Big Ten. It’d be understandable if all of these college players were in their 40s or 50s. But many of them are teens or barely out of their teens and almost all of them are not vulnerable to it.
How many other conferences are going to follow suit and cancel?
Looks like it’s going to just be the NFL this year, that is if they don’t cancel too…
UPDATE: Big Ten Spokesman is saying there’s been no vote yet even though this news is being widely reported…
From what I’m hearing it’s a fait accompli that Big Ten will cancel, as only Nebraska and Iowa will vote to play.
Via TRS
