Report: Big Ten Votes 12-2 To Cancel Fall Football, Decision Not Final Yet
Update, 1:30 p.m.: Well…maybe not.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel, Big Ten leadership reportedly did not meet and vote to cancel the upcoming college football season.
The Big Ten has yet to officially release any statement surrounding the reported meeting and vote. At this time, it’s unclear exactly where the conference stands regarding the upcoming season.
Original Story: Big Ten presidents held an internal vote Monday morning and are prepared to cancel fall football by a 12-2 margin, according to Dan Patrick and Stadium’s Brett McMurphy.
The two also reported Nebraska and Iowa were the lone universities still pushing to play football this fall. Should this prove true, football powerhouses including Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan voted “no” — an especially telling sign.
Despite the alleged internal vote, the Big Ten’s decision isn’t final just yet. McMurphy and Patrick reported the conference, as well as the Pac-12, could officially bite the bullet and cancel the season as soon as Tuesday, August 11.
Should the Big Ten officially vote to cancel fall football (and other sports, for that matter), the other Power Five conferences are expected to quickly follow suit. Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel referred to the conference as “the domino everyone is watching.”
The Big Ten announced Saturday it wouldn’t allow teams to move forward with fully padded practices for the time being. The conference said it wants to continue evaluating the pandemic before moving forward, even though the season is scheduled to kick off in just under four weeks.
Uncertainty surrounding the upcoming football season was cranked up to the next level when the Mid-American Conference announced this weekend it’d cancel its football season due to the coronavirus pandemic, becoming the first FBS conference to shutter its season.
Ironically enough, Penn State football’s student-athletes launched a Twitter campaign Saturday night in support of playing this fall. The athletes touted Penn State’s staff’s efforts to keep them safe and said they “want to play” despite the uncertain circumstances.
To date, eight Penn State student-athletes have tested positive for the coronavirus since testing began earlier this summer. However, it’s unclear how many, if any, were a part of Penn State football. Penn State should release its next biweekly testing update on Wednesday, August 12.
We’ll update this post with more information as it becomes available.
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