The Big Ten Conference will not play football this year. After a meeting with the university presidents, the Big Ten has canceled the college football season for fall 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CBS Sports. Right now, the plan for all 14 teams in the conference to start playing in spring 2021. The Big Ten has become the first Power Five conference to decide not to play football this fall.
On Monday, it was reported the Big Ten was going to cancel the football season after the presidents voted in a meeting. This story surfaced when the commissioners of all Power Five conferences held an emergency meeting over the weekend about the status of football being played this fall. Big Ten coaches – including Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Penn State’s James Franklin and Ohio State’s Ryan Day — as well as some Big Ten players — have publicly advocated for playing this fall. However, that wasn’t enough for Big Ten leaders to not call off the fall season, and a big reason has to do with Myocarditis, which is a condition that involves an inflammation of the heart muscle.
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“Myocarditis is the ballgame right now,” the source said to CBS Sports. “Myocarditis is the major issue they’re looking at. … Between the Pac-12 and the Big Ten, that’s what is really driving the push to push this off to spring.” It’s been reported at least 15 Big Ten players have been left with Myocarditis after contracting the coronavirus.
The Pac-12 has not made an announcement, but that could come on Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s no surprise the Big Ten made a move since it was the first to adjust its 2020 schedule to play just conference-only teams. Now the question is, will the other conferences follow in the footsteps of the Big Ten?
If that happens, that would mean that no college football will be played this year. There have been cancellations of college football conferences and teams from all levels throughout the summer, but the FBS was only affected recently. It started with UConn announcing it has canceled football for 2020. UMass made the move shortly after that, which then led to the Mid-American Conference and the Mountain West to cancel fall sports. Another thing to watch is if no college football is played this year, the NFL will likely move a few its games to Saturday.
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