Although there were expectations over the weekend that the Big Ten and Pac-12 would cancel their respective seasons of college football 2020, the conferences said Monday that they have yet to make decisions. Both conferences have scheduled separate meetings for Tuesday that are expected to include formal votes on how to move forward.
Power Five commissioners met on Sunday to play the liveliness of the season amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sources told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports that the meeting was previously scheduled with the commissioners who were allowed to meet again Monday. It is not known if that Monday meeting took place yet what specific discussions may have taken place.
On Tuesday, however, it is expected that presidents and chancellors of the Big Ten and Pac-12 will meet with their respective conferences to vote on canceling the college football season 2020 and possibly try to play in the spring of 2021. The conferences could also choose to delay seasons or take no action and proceed as a plan.
The ACC “absolutely” intends to play this fall, according to Dodd, while SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has called for patience in noting that his conference has made sharp decisions about the COVID-19 pandemic. The SEC has not given any indication that it has plans to cancel its season. The Big 12 is reported divided about playing, according to Sports Illustrated.
The Big Ten will be the first conference to meet Tuesday morning, likely followed by the Pac-12 and Big 12.
De Detroit Free Press and radio host Dan Patrick reported Monday that the Big Ten has all but decided not to go ahead with playing college sports of any kind this fall. Although Patrick reported on his show that the Big Ten held a vote with presidencies of leagues that voted by a margin of 12-2 not to play this fall (Nebraska and Iowa were presumably the dissenters), it became a formal vote not taken, according to Dodd.
Big Ten coaches including Ryan Day of Ohio State, Jim Harbaugh of Michigan, James Franklin of Penn State and Scott Frost of Nebraska have publicly pleaded guilty to playing the 2020 season. The coaches and athletic directors of Pac-12 met Monday night with Athletic Director Larry Scott, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.
Sentiment in the whole college football that Sunday night entry was that the Big Ten and Pac-12 would indeed cancel their seasons this week. However, the combination of outspoken coaches and the #WeWantToPlay X #WeAreUnited movement that suddenly developed late Sunday could have influenced decision-makers, primarily university presidents.
For weeks, it was believed that if any Power Five conference decided to play college football in the fall, it would be the Big Ten. After all, this was the conference that announced more than a month ago that it was going to be a schedule-only conference for the fall.
The Big Ten became the first conference to make such an adjustment in a movement that would blind their Power Five brothers. In short order, however, the other conferences eventually made similar moves, albeit with varied configurations and projected start dates.
Although cancellations have taken place at all levels of college football, only recently have they affected the 130-team FBS team. UConn was the first FBS team to call curtains on a fall 2020 season, while the MAC was the first FBS conference to record playing fall sports. Old Dominion on Monday became the first individual member of an FBS conference (Conference USA) to cancel its season, while Mountain West joined the MAC as the second FBS conference to play this season.
