How the football season plays out likely will reflect directly on Warrenbig ten
The Big Ten's move to a conference-only schedule and the reverberations through the college landscape marks the first major test for new Commissioner Kevin Warren. Even though the news release spotlighted the collaboration between university presidents, ADs, the conference office and medical experts, Warren is the one setting the agenda. How this plays out will reflect directly on him. The Big Ten under previous commissioner Jim Delany was known for taking bold steps, and Warren is fitting right into that profile as a trendsetter. Most schools and conferences had pointed toward Aug. 1 as the goal to figure out what the ‘20 season might look like, but the Big Ten and Warren clearly had made up their minds. As one conference official said, this scheduling model lets the Big Ten maximize flexibility during a time of great uncertainty. The regular season could start on time in early September, or be delayed until late September and still finish on time. By reducing the schedule to 10 games, the conference could make adjustments if a school gets hit with an outbreak. Still, the timing of the announcement is a bit curious. It seems that the Big Ten could have waited three more weeks to make the same statement, but this does give those non-conference opponents more time to find a replacement game.
MISSING SOME BIG GAMES: The Big Ten is typically among the top two or three conferences in the country, with some of the biggest brands in college football. Several high-profile, non-conference matchups involving some of those schools just got wiped away from the '20 schedule. The ones we'll miss the most:
- Sept. 5: Michigan at Washington
- Sept. 12: Ohio State at Oregon
- Sept. 12: Penn State at Virginia Tech
- Sept. 19: Appalachian State at Wisconsin
- Sept. 19: Maryland at West Virginia
- Sept. 26: BYU at Minnesota
- Oct. 3: Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin
OTHER FALLOUT: Wisconsin is the only Big Ten opponent on Notre Dame’s schedule. The Irish play six ACC opponents and those games will likely stand if the ACC goes conference-only, even though they are not officially a member in football. They have Stanford and USC from the Pac-12. BYU not only loses its game against Minnesota, but a Week 2 matchup in Provo against Michigan State.
Read more from Thursday night's SBJ College newsletter.
