Big Ten Bow to Pressure and Announce the Resumption of its 2020 Season

Fans of college football have reason to celebrate after the Council of Presidents and Chancellors of the Big Ten Conference voted to resume the football season on the weekend of 24th October. The reversal decision was unanimously reached last Wednesday and conference officials also announced that they had ramped up safety protocols which included daily COVID-19 tests for both coaches and athletes. Conference officials also disclosed that they have set up through screening procedures and protocols in case an athlete contracts the novel virus.

Initially, about 5 weeks ago, the Big Ten Conference which mainly covers the Midwest region had moved to suspend the fall season in fear of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Pac-12 Conference which is based on the West coast followed suit with a plan to get back in the game early 2020. At that time, Kevin Warren, the Big Ten Commissioner had even gone as far as penning an open letter to clarify that the season cancellation was based on the trusted guidance of experts in the medical field, and the decision was final and “will not be revisited.”

Pushback from All Corners After Cancellation

Being the first of the major Power Five conferences to shelve its plans for proceeding with the fall season, the Big Ten Conference faced heavy criticism on its decision. Players, coaches, parents, governors, federal officials, and even President Trump called on the conference to rethink the decision and for weeks, they remained adamant.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Parents then moved to hold protests outside the Illinois offices of the Big Ten urging the conference to reverse the decision with a petition that received over 300,000 signatures. On top of that, eight football players from the University of Nebraska sued the conference, questioning how its leaders came to the postponing decision.

Based on the suit, the athletes asserted that the conference’s decision had caused the athletes “irreparable harm” as they would effectively miss out on an opportunity to showcase their skill for the pro league football draft. According to the 8 players in the suit, the conference was breaching its contract as it wasn’t acting in the best interest of the athletes.  

As the Big Ten and Pac 12 continued to hold its stance, the other three conferences which are part of the Power Five, and four more Football Bowl Subdivision conferences decided on moving forward but opted for moderately reduced seasons. Most of the teams resumed their seasons on the 12th of September, a few days before the Big Ten came back to its senses.

What Next for the Big Ten?

In light of the new announcement by the Big Ten, their return will give them room to play eight regular-season games through the course of eight weeks, beginning on the 24th of October. Additionally, after the regular season which will end on 12th December, there will be an extra “consolation game,” or rather a championship game that will be held on the 19th of December right before the selection date of The College Football Playoff committee which is on 20th December.

That way, the Big Ten teams will be eligible for the College Football Playoffs and bowl games after the season is complete. On the weekend of 19th December, all other teams in the Big Ten will play one more game with the corresponding teams in the East and West divisions accordingly, based on league standings.