Ohio State currently is only allowing family members of players to attend gamesGETTY IMAGES
Ohio State AD Gene Smith said that the Big Ten's current attendance policy barring fans "will be reevaluated weekly, based on state and local government restrictions throughout the league, but the conference 'decided we'll all be in this together,'" according to Heather Dinich of ESPN.com. With the Big Ten set to join the SEC, ACC and Big 12 this weekend in a return to football, Smith said yesterday that the "biggest hurdle in reaching this point was getting the university presidents to unanimously agree to the return." Smith: "Once we got the vote, and we knew we could go, I'd say after that getting the schedule was hard ... but for me, nothing was hard after that." He added that the conference does "not currently plan to fine coaches who aren't wearing masks or keeping them up while on the sideline, saying it's up to the individual campuses to enforce at this time" (ESPN.com, 10/19).
COULD BE A BUMPY RIDE: In Minneapolis, Chip Scoggins writes the Big Ten will "attempt to play nine games in nine weeks, which sounds implausible, if not impossible, based on logic." Cancellations "seem inevitable, no matter how much testing and safety protocols are available to protect players, coaches and support staff." Further, the Big Ten left itself "zero cushion in the schedule to accommodate postponements." It is either "play the game or cancel at this point." Any player who tests positive must sit out 21 days of competition at a minimum before returning. Scoggins: "That’s three games, or one-third of the schedule" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/20).
