Big Ten, Pac-12 expected to vote Tuesday on whether to move forward with 2020 college football season

Though there were expectations over the weekend that the Big Ten and Pac-12 would cancel their respective fall 2020 college football seasons this week, the conferences said Monday they have yet to come to any decisions. Both conferences have separate meetings scheduled for Tuesday that are expected to include formal votes about how to move forward. Power Five commissioners met on Sunday to discuss the viability of playing the season amid the covid pandemic.

The meeting was previously scheduled with the commissioners set to meet again Monday. It is not known whether that Monday meeting took place nor what specific discussions may have been held. However, on Tuesday, it is expected that presidents and chancellors from the Big Ten and Pac-12 will meet with their respective conferences to vote on whether to cancel the 2020 college football season and possibly attempt to play in spring 2021.

The conferences could also choose to delay their seasons or take no action and proceed as scheduled. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) absolutely intends to play this fall, while Southeastern Conference (SEC) has called for patience in noting that SEC conference has been diligently making decisions throughout the covid pandemic. The SEC has given no indication it has plans to cancel its season.

The Big 12 is reportedly divided on whether to play.

The Big Ten will be the first conference to meet Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. ET. It is believed the Pac-12 will meet around 2 p.m., while it is unknown when the Big 12 has its meeting scheduled. Pac-12 coaches and athletic directors received an eye opening medical perspective from a group of conference doctors on Monday night. The Pac-12 is likely to cancel its season regardless of the Big Ten’s decision.

The Big Ten has all but decided not to move forward with playing college sports of any kind this fall. They held a vote with league presidents opting by a 12-2 margin to not play this fall (Nebraska and Iowa were reportedly the dissenters), a formal vote was not taken. The coaches including Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Penn State’s James Franklin, and Nebraska’s Scott Frost have publicly advocated for playing the 2020 season.

The Pac-12’s coaches and athletic directors met with athletic director Larry Scott on Monday night. Sentiment throughout college football entering Sunday night was that the Big Ten and Pac-12 would indeed cancel their seasons this week. However, the combination of outspoken coaches and the the #WeWantToPlay X #WeAreUnited movement that developed suddenly late Sunday may have had an impact on decision makers, primarily the university presidents.

For weeks, it was believed that if any Power Five conference decided to punt first on playing college football in the fall, it would be the Big Ten.

After all, this was the conference that announced over a month ago it was moving to a conference-only schedule for the fall. The Big Ten became the first conference to make such an adjustment in a move that blindsided their Power Five brethren. However, in short order, the other conferences ultimately made similar moves albeit with varied configurations and projected start dates.

Though cancellations have been taking place at all levels of college football, only recently did they affect the 130-team Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). University of Connecticut was the first FBS team to call curtains on a fall 2020 season, while the Mid-American Conference (MAC) was the first FBS conference to call off playing fall sports. Old Dominion on Monday became the first individual member of an FBS conference (Conference USA) to cancel its season, while the Mountain West joined the MAC as the second FBS conference to punt on playing this season.

Developments did not paint an optimistic picture of football, or any fall sport, being played in the Big Ten because of the covid pandemic, though the conference had made no announcement on Monday. Some coaches, led by Nebraska’s Scott Frost, were pushing hard for a fall season to go on as scheduled. The coaches began to comment in favor of playing in the fall.

Sometimes, the head coach’s responsibility is to fight for what the players want, too.

The players want to play, the coaches want to coach. Frost added he is prepared to play even if the Big Ten cancels the fall season. He wants to play a Big Ten schedule. He hopes that is what happens. Ohio State University is committed to playing, no matter what, no matter what that looks like or how that looks. The University wants to play no matter who it is or where it is, so it will see how those chips fall.

Ohio State University certainly hopes it is in the Big Ten. If it is not, the University is prepared to look for other options. The University urged Big Ten presidents not to cancel the fall season, and would not rule out playing this fall in a different conference. Universities need to look at every option, and if that is the only option at the time, they need to explore it.

Michigan and Penn State Universities also made statements that urged playing football this fall. Asked to comment on the issue, University of Minnesota referred all inquiries to Big Ten officials. The financial impact of not having fall sports would be major. The Gophers athletic department estimated that a fall without sports would result in $75 million of lost revenue.

Chief Financial Officer Rhonda McFarland told the Board of Regents in May that there are only a handful of athletic departments that could manage a $30 million loss, and likely very few that would survive a $75 million reduction in revenue.

Over the past six days, the landscape of major college football, especially the Big Ten, has shifted. On Wednesday, the Big Ten and other conferences announced their adjusted football schedules for this fall. However, it is a fluid situation. There is no guarantee that Big Ten and other conferences will have fall sports or football season. On Friday, Big Ten training camps opened, including Minnesota’s.

This virus is so humbling, and each day, there is more and more knowledge, that if you start thinking three, four weeks ahead, it is going to blow your mind. On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference became the first Football Bowl Subdivision league to cancel its fall football season. The Big Ten also announced that teams could not begin full-padded practices until further notice.

On Sunday, reports started to develop that the Big Ten was on the verge of canceling football in the fall. Led by prominent players such as Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, the #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay movements joined forces and released a statement in favor of playing this fall and arguing for rights they want addressed. On Monday, President Donald Trump weighed in, retweeting Lawrence’s statement and adding, “The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be canceled.”

Later in the day, the Mountain West Conference became the second FBS league to announce it will not play football this fall.

Old Dominion of Conference USA did so, too. Reports Monday night had the Pac-12 considering delaying the start of the season into late October rather than canceling it. Coaches and athletic directors in the SEC and ACC reiterated support of playing this fall. In the Big 12, Texas officials reportedly are pushing to play in the fall.