The Big Ten Reportedly Cancels Fall Football Officially
Yesterday, I posed the question on KKAM.com, "Could the Big 12 add schools for one season if the Big Ten cancels?" and yesterday it was just a hypothetical. Today, however, the question becomes one that's based in reality and not just fiction.
Pete Thamel from Yahoo Sports and Bruce Feldman from The Athletic have both reported that the Big Ten will not play football this fall, but will attempt to play in the spring.
The spring season brings up way more logistical nightmares than trying to play in the fall does. How do they allow players to play if they are preparing for the NFL draft? Will they play a shortened season in place of Spring football? Will gray shirts be allowed on the team if it's still participating in the season that was completed by the other Power Five conferences? Not to mention the coronavirus isn't going to magically disappear when the calendar turns to 2021.
The next domino to fall seems to be the Pac 12 who is reportedly ready to cancel it's fall sports as well.
On the opposite side of that, the ACC has said that it intends to play the 2020 season this fall. The SEC is also planning to play. The Big 12 is reportedly undecided.
Back to the Big Ten, after the reports surfaced yesterday, Nebraska head coach raised concerns about sending his football players away from the program if the season was canceled, saying it was safer to be in the "bubble" of the athletic facility where they get guaranteed medical attention as opposed to fending for themselves.
The University of Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh released a statement that echoed the same sentiment and talked about the controlled environment of the athletic facility.
Those two statements, among numerous others, held no water apparently with University Administrations as they canceled football. Now, the Big Ten, and likely the Pac 12, will be permanently tarnished on the recruiting trail if the SEC and ACC find a way to play football in 2020. If it wasn't already August, there might be an exodus of transfers too.
The Big 12, aka the swing vote, is scheduled to meet tonight in regards to the 2020 season and the medical guidelines for this year. Again, the general consensus is that the Big 12 has aligned with the SEC, but here's a disconcerting tweet from ESPN's Jake Trotter who covered the Big 12 before following Baker Mayfield to the Browns.
As of now, the Texas Tech football team is set to open their season on September 12th against the Houston Baptist Huskies in Jones Stadium.
Maybe when the Big 12 Board of Directors meets this evening they'll add rogue Big Ten schools being eligible for the Big 12 championship to the docket.
The anticipation is building.
Texas Tech's top five position battles on the Red Raider defense:
Top 5 Defensive Position Battles
Keep reading with the top 5 position battles on the offensive side of the ball:
Texas Tech Offensive Position Battles