There has been widespread speculation hinting toward the inevitable over the past few days, but this time, it’s not a drill.
No Big Ten football will be played this fall.
The conference’s presidents met Tuesday to discuss options for the season, and ultimately college football in the Big Ten will be postponed until the spring, if it is played at all, Pete Thamel for Yahoo! Sports first reported.
“As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall," Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement.
The option to push back the fall season to Sept. 26 was also on the table for the conference, though eventually decided against.
There was speculation that a 12-2 vote against proceeding with the season took place Monday among Big Ten schools, but it was later reported that the vote came from medical officials at each university in regards to their comfort level for the season, and school presidents had yet to participate in a formal vote.
"While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point," Warren said.
Following reports of impending cancellation on Monday, college football players and coaches took to social media to voice their displeasure, and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day told ESPN that he was caught off guard by the news.
“We cannot cancel the season right now,” Day said Monday on College Football Live. “At the very least, postpone it."
Buckeye linebacker Teradja Mitchell and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline even toyed on Twitter with the prospect of Ohio State jumping to the SEC in order play this season, an idea that Day didn’t dismiss on ESPN.
“If that’s the only option, we need to explore it,” Day said.
On Sunday, potential top NFL Draft picks Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence were among the players to join the #WeWantToPlay movement on social media, and posted a message from a unified group of power five conference players that, in part, stated the goal of creating a players’ association.
UConn became the first FBS program to suspend its football team for the season last week, and the MAC conference canceled its fall season Saturday before the Mountain West did the same on Monday.
A growing contingent of Big Ten stars have begun to opt out of the season over the past week, including Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore.
“Looking back at all the work I’ve put in through the years and seeing my senior year gone to injury and now seeing all of this stuff going on,” Ohio State redshirt senior Jonathon Cooper said on Twitter Sunday. “Man I want a season to show everyone the player I am and have the senior year I earned and worked for.”
