Sources have indicated the league's focus is on developing the best spring '21 schedule possibleGETTY IMAGES
The Big Ten will make "no decisions for 7-10 days" on specifically when it will begin the football season, as the conference "continues to figure itself out," according to Dennis Dodd of CBSSPORTS.com. One source said that a Thanksgiving timeframe start "may hinge on a medical 'miracle' surrounding COVID-19 (better testing and contact tracing)." Sources "increasingly indicate the league's focus is on developing the best spring 2021 schedule possible." Officials want one that "would mitigate the problem of playing two seasons in a calendar year" and that "would end before the NFL Draft." Either way, Dodd wrote, the continuing uncertainty "shows a continued lack of unity within the Big Ten." The "conference needs to decide what it wants," because "seventeen days after announcing it would attempt to play in spring 2021 -- a decision that came 6 days after the Big Ten released its fall 2020 schedule -- the league is now at least considering a Thanksgiving-week start." An "increasing rift within the league is obvious" (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/30).
BIGGER CONSIDERATIONS: In New Jersey, James Kratch wrote Big Ten ADs and coaches are "not making the call on when to play," nor is "embattled commissioner Kevin Warren." It is "up to all of their bosses." And while some of them "may feel heat and/or be open to playing before the year is over, remember: They already canceled the season once without people knowing for sure if there was a vote, much less what the votes were." It is "far from a given they will change course." The "bigger issue will be where each state in the conference stands." Kratch: "Put testing accuracy, availability and capacity aside, as it is hard to forecast months in advance" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/30).
SEVERAL START DATES IN PLAY: YAHOO SPORTS' Pete Thamel noted the "other prominent idea" revolves around starting the football season "near New Year’s." Sources said that other potential start dates are "mid-January and post-Super Bowl." The push to play at some point in the calendar year of '20 is "being led by Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Penn State’s James Franklin, Nebraska’s Scott Frost and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh." However, sources said that the discussion around a Thanksgiving start for now "remains at the coach and athletic director level" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/28). THE ATHLETIC's Bruce Feldman cited sources as saying that Big Ten TV partners have been "very receptive to making this work whenever the conference determines if -- and when -- it wants to play in terms of providing broadcast windows" (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/28). In Detroit, Rainer Sabin cited sources as saying that the push for the return of fall football has been "motivated by the recent breakthroughs in accelerated tests for COVID-19, as well as the fear of how the Big Ten’s postponement could affect the recruiting calendar" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 8/29).
CRACKS IN FOUNDATION: In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein wrote the "real question is this: Who’s in charge? Is it Commissioner Kevin Warren? The doctors advising the Big Ten? The chancellors and presidents? The athletic directors? The coaches? The parents? The players (God forbid)? ... Or is it the coronavirus?" Greenstein: "Has the Big Ten ever been this fractured? ... The conference is in a million little pieces, with Warren desperate for new messaging and communication." Even though the presidents and chancellors were the "ones who voted to suspend the season, Warren will need something to save him." That "something is football" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/29). In Indianapolis, Zach Osterman argued the Big Ten's initial postponement decision itself is "justifiable in any case." The failure "wasn’t in the decision, but rather the lack of leadership and communication since." It took Warren "a week to release a two-page letter explaining the reasoning behind the Big Ten’s postponement" while many of his presidents and chancellors have been "glaringly absent in supporting him" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/29).
LEGAL RECOURSE? THE ATHLETIC's Alicia Jessop reported more athletes across Big Ten institutions "may sue the conference." Marquette Univ. National Sports Law Institute Exec Dir Matt Mitten said that the "central issue" in the Nebraska players’ case is "whether the Big Ten breached its bylaws in how it voted to postpone the start of the fall season" (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/29).
