College football has officially returned, and the Big Ten Conference wants to get in on the action. On Wednesday morning, the Big Ten announced its football season will start in October. This comes after the conference postponed football until the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“From the onset of the pandemic, our highest priority has been the health and the safety of our students. The new medical protocols and standards put into place by the Big Ten Return To Competition Task Force were pivotal in the decision to move forward with sports in the conference,” Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Northwestern University President, and Chair of the Return to Competition Task Force Steering Committee, said in a press release. “We appreciate the conference’s dedication to developing the necessary safety procedures for our students and the communities that embrace them.”
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The Big Ten football season will officially start on the weekend of Oct. 24, and each team will play eight games in eight weeks. The Big Ten Championship will be played on Dec. 19, and the teams not playing in the game will take part in a cross-division game with seeded teams in each division going at it, according to ESPN. Here’s a look at what football fans had to say about the Big Ten’s return.
The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols and has voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020: https://t.co/b5yHShGb1D
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) September 16, 2020
Great News: BIG TEN FOOTBALL IS BACK. All teams to participate. Thank you to the players, coaches, parents, and all school representatives. Have a FANTASTIC SEASON! It is my great honor to have helped!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2020
Good morning, Big Ten fans. Today looks like your day. Sources tell @SInow that a return to fall football is expected to be announced today, perhaps before noon.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) September 16, 2020
Big Ten football is back!!! pic.twitter.com/wsXzSDBayL
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) September 16, 2020
THE BIG TEN IS BACK! OHIO STATE FOOTBALL IS BACK! GIVE US CLEMSON, GIVE US BAMA! IT’S NATTY SEASON BABY! JUSTIN FIELDS FOR HEISMAN! LET’S GOOOO!!!pic.twitter.com/HBt1NFRUlR
— Barstool OSU (@BarstoolOSU) September 16, 2020
No matter your feelings on Big Ten football in 2020, we can all agree it’s cute to watch maybe the fifth most important brand in the conference (Nebraska) try to throw its weight around like everyone else will follow
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) September 15, 2020
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) September 16, 2020
The Big Ten football reversal is perhaps the best example yet of the shameless hypocrisy of those who scream about “keeping politics out of their sports.”
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) September 16, 2020
They don’t want politics out of sports; they want everyone *else’s* politics out of sports.
Big Ten showing up to play football like… pic.twitter.com/xnV5buW0kW
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) September 16, 2020
Note the date: 9/16/20, the day the vaunted Big Ten became the SEC. It choked. It got scared. It sold its soul for football. My @usatodaysports column on the darkest day in Big Ten history: https://t.co/uaWfgpgSqO
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 16, 2020
Big Ten fans when they hear college football is back 😎 pic.twitter.com/dLVxDIXVUg
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 16, 2020
Truly enjoying the NOW THE BIG TEN MAY BE HANDLING THIS BETTER THAN ANYONE takes.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) September 16, 2020
No. They messed up. It’s cool that they admitted their mistake instead of letting pride get in the way. And that, in and of itself, is a very good thing.
Now on to actual football.
Big Ten Football. Is Back. pic.twitter.com/opVvyrYJtq
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 16, 2020
BIG TEN FOOTBALL IS BACK!
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 16, 2020
Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump! pic.twitter.com/ZyT7Z2UuOX
Big Ten Football pic.twitter.com/q91eYezkEU
— MyBookie Sportsbook (@mybookiebet) September 16, 2020
Darker days in the Big Ten than today.
— Todd Lisenbee (@ToddOnFranchise) September 16, 2020
– Jerry Sandusky story and cover-up
– Larry Nassar story and cover-up
– DJ Durkin basically kills a kid at practice
– Ohio State wrestlers allege years of sexual abuse
But yeah, deciding to come back and play football is really dark. https://t.co/zyyNQFFrNx
I’m glad the Big Ten is playing football this fall. It’s good for the sport. But I’ll have no patience for anyone in media praising its leadership for being prudent and cautious. Not after all the insinuations made about other conferences.
— Aaron Suttles (@AaronSuttles) September 16, 2020
The Big Ten is back, and a stand-alone winter season doesn’t work. The #Pac12 MUST play football this fall, even if the California Four have to hole up in metro Phoenix for 8 weekshttps://t.co/svZUTpXyZV
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) September 16, 2020
The fact that football is back and not ANYTHING ELSE literally proves that the Big Ten bowed to political pressure and nothing else. https://t.co/HDaY6QNiGN
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) September 16, 2020
Players, parents and especially politicians will take credit for the Big Ten reversing course and playing football this fall, but it is scientists who created improved testing and tracing procedures that deserve that credit. https://t.co/ePRrSI3hRQ
— Jerry Palm (@jppalmCBS) September 16, 2020
I’m not saying the Big Ten is running a science experiment on its football players but the Big Ten is kinda saying they’re running a science experiment on their players https://t.co/EVsgoWqiOH
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) September 16, 2020
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