Despite some Big Ten athletic directors, head football coaches and presidents publicly expressing the desire to keep the fall football season alive, conference officials ultimately decided against it in a vote last week.

Or so we thought.

Recent comments from administrators at Penn State and Minnesota hint to speculation that there was no formal voting process that directly led to the decision, which places new context on Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren’s initial statements about the conference’s announcement.

“University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel said on a Zoom call Tuesday there wasn't necessarily a vote among Big Ten leaders, but a more deliberative process, on postponing 2020 fall sports,” St. Paul Pioneer Press’s Andy Greder reported on Twitter this past week.

Greder said Gabel “absolutely” supported the Big Ten’s decision to call off the fall season, but her words about the decision-making process seemed to contradict a common assumption about how a bottom line would be reached.

It turns out Gabel was not out on a limb with her description of the Big Ten deliberation.

On a Zoom call Monday, Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour seemed to echo Gabel’s sentiments, as CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd reported on Twitter that Barbour said "it's unclear where there was ever a vote or not.”

The Athletic’s Nicole Auberbach reported that Barbour said Big Ten presidents came out of the meeting and instructed their athletic directors that the decision to postpone had been made, but that she wasn’t sure if a formal vote had taken place.

Warren spoke with the Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine shortly after the Big Ten’s decision was made public last week, but declined to give any concrete information about a vote taking place.

“I would rather not have a detailed discussion about your question about, ‘Is the vote unanimous or not unanimous?’ But this was a decision that was made on a collective basis,” Warren said.

However, Warren did hint that there was some dissension in the ranks, although he neither confirmed or denied that any formal vote on the matter was tallied.

“Our schools, they don’t always agree, and I can only talk about since I’ve been here. We don’t always agree, but I think people understand, and I take that from a passion standpoint, that we will be together in the Big Ten,” Warren said.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said that Ohio State stands with the Big Ten on the decision, although he said he would have preferred to play if possible.

Reports on Aug. 10, the day before the Big Ten postponement, said that a 12-2 vote against the fall season had taken place among Big Ten presidents, but it was later reported that the vote was from the medical officials at each school, and not university presidents.

Cleveland.com and the Columbus Dispatch each reported on Aug. 10 that university sources said Ohio State president Kristina M. Johnson would vote against canceling the fall season if a vote was to take place.