Bob Bowlsby: Big 12 Confident, Enthusiastic, But 'There's So Much We Don't Know' About 2020

After Big 12 announces 2020 schedule, commissioner says the Big 12 is "ready to pivot" away from playing college football games if Coronavirus dictates

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said on Wednesday’s conference call that “it has been a wild couple of days,” but the league is enthusiastically moving forward with plans to play college football in 2020.

“We are learning more all the time,” Bowlsby said, “and yet there’s much we don’t know.”

Bowlsby said in addition to Tuesday’s meeting of the Big 12 Board of Directors and athletic directors, he’s also met with medical and scientific experts as well as student-athletes, and he feels all were productive conversations.

“What we’ve heard from our student-athletes is they want to play,” he said, “but they want to know that it’s safe, they want to know what the health implications are, and they want to know their financial aid is secure.”

Bowlsby cautioned that the league’s formal announcement Wednesday morning that it would move forward with every effort to play a 10-game schedule — the Big 12 released a schedule for each team — was only a first step and could encounter multiple obstacles.

“We will find ourselves with bumpy spots during the fall, there isn’t any doubt about it,” he said. “But I think we’re very well prepared to deal with those things. I feel good about our decision going forward. I think our board feels good about it.

“Most importantly, we feel good about the clarity for our student-athletes and coaches. But … there’s a difference between certainty and clarity.”

Bowlsby addressed the issue of scientists and medical experts giving the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences a vein of information that compelled those leagues to shut down any attempt at competing in 2020, while the Big 12’s own virus experts tell its CEOs that playing is OK.

“What we have heard from our experts is that some of the ramifications of the virus can be mitigated and properly managed,” Bowlsby said. “As long as that continues to be the case, they believe we can safely conduct competition and safely conduct practice. If it gets to the place where they feel we can no longer do that, then we can very quickly pivot to another course.

“If we get to the point where our doctors and scientists are saying, ‘You know what? You’ve got two wheels off the track,” we will pivot that day … making adjustments on the fly are gonna be a part of this.

“Our medical professions have said go forward, move slowly, make adjustments, and constantly be vigilant about changes in the environment. That’s what we’ve been listening to. … We believe the people advising us have our best interests at heart and we are gonna follow their instructions implicitly.”

Bowlsby addressed a number of other issues during the call, including the College Football Playoff, student-athlete eligibility extensions and more. He also said just because teams are now going through preseason practice, it’s not a guarantee that a full season — or any games at all — can be played.

“During the preseason camp, it’s about as close to a bubble as you’re gonna get with college athletes,” he said. “How many potholes we fall into depends on how many kids decide … to not go to parties.”

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