Big Ten Football to Return on October 23

After a month of indecisiveness, the Big Ten will make their return to football on October 23. All 14 member schools will play an eight-week schedule and the championship game will be on December 19. I documented the unfortunate series of errors made by the conference earlier this month; you can read it here.

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

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What’s Changed Since September 1?

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren and member schools have gone back and forth since their fateful vote on August 11. Three schools – Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State – have led the charge to have their football seasons started. Nebraska head coach Scott Frost threatened to continue as an independent for the season. As the weeks went on and lawsuits started to form against the Big Ten (most notably by eight Cornhusker football players), the conference released the results of the vote to postpone the season. Not surprisingly, the three schools previously mentioned were the votes of dissent.

So, what’s changed? Why is the Big Ten making its football return? Back on August 19, the conference announced that they were forming a task force to return to competition. It appears that after the task force came to some conclusions, they will initiate several safety measures. Big Ten members and officials worked meticulously to ensure football’s return. These measures are arguably the most stringent, including:

• Daily Antigen testing;
• 21-day waiting period after a positive test to measure cardiac inflammation, and;
• 7-day stop in competition for teams whose team positivity rate exceeds 5% or overall positivity rate exceeds 7.5%.

Big Ten schools and its players and coaches are excited to play:

#WeAre pic.twitter.com/HcxAM0A1DS

— James Franklin (@coachjfranklin) September 16, 2020

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WE ARE BACK ☠️? pic.twitter.com/OAd3GK0RG7

— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) September 16, 2020

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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

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Pac-12 Most Affected

#Big10 #CFB pic.twitter.com/7aAd6C29fI

— Belly Up Sports (@BellyUpSports) September 16, 2020

The Big Ten’s decision to return to football has affected the Pac-12 the most. The Pac-12 has been left holding its hat as the one conference of the “Power Five” conferences to not play this Fall. The Pac-12 followed the lead of the Big Ten when they announced they would postpone their season. The Pac-12’s move is predicated by the state of California, which has been affected by restrictions brought about by the pandemic. One-third of the conference’s teams are located in California: Cal, Southern Cal, Stanford, and UCLA. The state is also battling wildfires, which is affecting air quality. If the Pac-12’s season is to be saved, will they have to relocate to states without as many restrictions?

Just like the Big 10, athletes are urging their schools and state governments to play:

Dear @GavinNewsom ,

Please let us play. We want a chance

Thank you #LetUsPlay pic.twitter.com/GV71WxCxfH

— Amon-Ra (@amonra_stbrown) September 15, 2020

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Again, you have to feel badly for these athletes who WANT to play. Sadly, others don’t feel the same way:

Just because the Big 10 is playing football again doesn’t mean the Pac-12 has to be suckered into following them..don’t listen to the kids, ignore the parents, follow only the health officials..u might be the only ones not playing, but u’ll also be the only ones not endangering.

— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) September 16, 2020

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Okay, boomer.

What do you think of the Big Ten’s return? Sound off below or hit me up on Twitter: @WhoIsRyanMcC. Also, please don’t forget to check out my live show A-Round for the Weekend (most Fridays) and my podcast No Credentials Required (new episodes drop Wednesdays).