Report: Big Ten on the cusp of postponing 2020 football season amid COVID-19 concerns
MINNEAPOLIS - It's appearing less and less likely that there will be college football, at least in the Big Ten, in 2020.
Accordiing to multiple national reports, Big Ten Conference presidents held a conference call Sunday night, as did commissioners of the Power 5 conferences, on the fate of the football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports indicate the Big Ten is moving toward the decision to postpone the season until the spring of 2021.
Brett McMurphy with the Stadium Network reported Monday morning the Big Ten took an internal vote, and league members voted 12-2 in favor of not having a fall football season, with Iowa and Nebraska the only schools voting in favor of playing this fall. An official announcement could come by Tuesday.
The news comes less than a week after the conference released a 10-game regular season schedule for its member schools, and after some teams started fall camp last Friday.
It also comes days after the Mid-American Conference pulled the plug on having a fall football season. The MAC became the first conference with FBS programs to postpone the season, putting the wheels in motion for other conferences across the country.
Last week, University of Minnesota star receiver Rashod Bateman announced he was opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns. Bateman has asthma, and is expected to be a first round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after earning Big Ten Receiver of the Year honors and being named First Team All-Big Ten. He’s one of several star players who announced last week they are opting out of the season.
Shortly after Bateman opted out, Purdue star receiver Rondale Moore announced he was as well. Maryland quarterback Josh Jackson, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Michigan State defensive lineman Jacub Panasiuk followed.
To complicate matters, players around college football who haven't opted out initiated a "We Want to Play" movement on social media Sunday night. One of the catalysts was Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Many college players feel they are safer on their campus with their teams following COVID-19 guidelines than if the football season were postponed and they were potentially sent home.
In the Big Ten’s schedule release last week, the Gophers were scheduled to travel to Michigan State for their season-opener on Sept. 5, then host Michigan, host Iowa and travel to Wisconsin. Back in July, the conference announced it was eliminating all non-conference games to limit teams traveling due to COVID-19 concerns.
The biggest concern for Minnesota, and other athletic departments in the Big Ten, might come financially. Mark Coyle told the school’s Board of Regents earlier this summer the athletic department faces up to a $75 million loss in revenue if there isn’t college football in the fall.
The news is especially crushing for the Gophers. Popularity for the football program is as high as it’s ever been, coming off an 11-2 season, its best in 115 years, capped with a win over Auburn in the Outback Bowl as P.J. Fleck enters his fourth season at Minnesota.
Within the last few weeks, the NCAA has canceled fall championships in Division II and Division III. The MIAC also suspended fall sports until the spring of 2021, and the Minnesota State High School League pushed back high school football and volleyball to the spring of 2021.