As pressure continues on the Big Ten’s decision makers to pull the plug on falling football, another option has been brought to the table by the league’s coaches. The Big Ten consider a schedule that would start Thanksgiving week as one of many options for when to play college football again, a league source confirmed to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.
There are several ideas that have been kicked in within the conference, according to Dodd. Not all include a start for January. League sources seem to be making accommodation for a potential earlier start in 2020 as there is what was called an “overnight” change to medical conditions, tests and contact trace.
Big Ten coaches came up with the Thanksgiving idea, according to Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who first reported this potential breakthrough. This would potentially give the Big Ten the opportunity to play 10-11 games in a season as opposed to eight when it started in January 2021.
It has been previously reported that the league this season is investigating playing its season in several domed stadiums. Purdue coach Jeff Brohm also outlined, in detail, what a spring season could look like without compromising too much on the next season in the fall of 2021.
The Big Ten, Pac-12, Mountain West and MAC decided earlier this month to cancel all their fall schedules and look forward to playing in the spring of 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dodd notes that any move to an earlier start by the BIg Ten would probably be considered by some as pressure from players, parents and some coaches who are against a spring season. That would raise another question: What would have changed since August 11 when the league postponed all fall sports? How could the Big Ten play football in the fall, no other fall sports?
A start to Thanksgiving week would raise an additional question: Why not start in early October and enter an eight-week season that allows the Big Ten to compete for the College Football Playoffs?
However, the Big Ten could play in the awkward position of regular season games while the rest of college football prepares for the CFP National Championship, scheduled for January 11, 2021.
Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren reiterated last week that the conference has no intention of reviewing the possibility of football this fall. Every decision would have to be made by the presidents of the Big Ten. Given the league’s concerns about safety and the general uncertainty surrounding a season in the coronavirus pandemic, it would take a massive medical breakthrough to change their minds.
De Journal-SentinelThe report notes that the FDA recently gave emergency approval for a rapid antigen test designed by Abbott Labs, which would be cheap ($ 5), fast (15-minute breakthrough time) and would not need to be sent to a lab. Frequent, accurate, fast and – if possible – cost-effective testing would be useful for conferences trying to navigate this season without a real bubble. But it is also only one part of the equation.
The Big Ten is definitely looking at all the options for football again if it can. Starting from now three months – although possible, given that coaches do not require more than about a month of practice – would signal a massive, unexpected reversal of their tough stance.
