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As college football has begun to rumble with the announcement of the Ivy League that it would not be playing football (and other sports) this fall, most have been waiting for similar developments regarding FBS football.
Today, we’re one step closer to no season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
First, the big news, tweeted by the conference this afternoon:
(T)he Big Ten Conference announced today that if the Conference is able to participate in fall sports (men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball) based on medical advice, it will move to Conference-only schedules in those sports. Details for these sports will be released at a later date, while decisions on sports not listed above will continue to be evaluated.
As 5,000 Twitter lawyers and a few real-life lawyers (not beez, though, because he’s probably an idiot) have noted, that “if the Conference is able to participate in fall sports” is a huge operating word.
It’s probably not happening, and at this point just tighten your mask, gird your loins, and hope for the best.
Others like Adam Rittenberg have given us insights into what a 2020 college football season could look like for the Big Ten without non-conference games:
Also hearing per sources thst the B1G’s league-only schedules will be frontloaded with division games, as those are the most important to play before potential interruptions. https://t.co/yZzJmPJMUr
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 9, 2020
There’s also particular trouble for the MACrificial lambs—and other FCS and G5 schools, of course—who stood to fund most of their seasons from the payouts offered by Big Ten programs. Per our friends at Hustle Belt:
$15-18M is a perfectly reasonable estimate for what the MAC members will stand to lose as a result of this move.
— Hustle Belt (@HustleBelt) July 9, 2020
And that's just in B1G guarantees. https://t.co/QcQzmqXvns
Where does all this go from here? You probably know where. Football is less and less likely to happen this fall with each positive test, each removal of social distancing and mask-wearing laws, each failure to adequately ensuring the public health of the United States is defended.
We’ll have more thoughts as this develops, including a look at changing our B1G 2020 format.
Little of that matters at this point.
Wear a mask. Flatten the curve all over again.
You probably won’t get Big Ten football this fall, but you might save a life or two.