Big Ten Postpones 2020 Fall Sports Season, Could Play in Spring

Less than a week after releasing its 2020 football schedule and COVID-19 protocols, the Big Ten has decided to postpone the season.

The Big Ten became the first Power 5 conference to cancel the 2020 fall sports seasons Tuesday. 

The conference announced the decision Tuesday following two days of pleas and promises from Big Ten coaches who said they want the conference to delay a decision. Penn State coach James Franklin on Tuesday said that he wanted the conference to delay making a decision and gather more medical information.

The Big Ten said that it will "continue to evaluate a number of options regarding these sports, including the possibility of competition in the spring."

The decision comes less than a week after the Big Ten released its proposed fall schedule and five months after the conference canceled its basketball tournaments, and ultimately the spring seasons, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We know how significant the student-athlete experience can be in shaping the future of the talented young women and men who compete in the Big Ten Conference," Commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement. "Although that knowledge made this a painstaking decision, it did not make it difficult. While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point. Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Big Ten football teams began training camps last week (Penn State started Friday), and commissioner Kevin Warren said that a Sept. 5 start date was planned specifically to deal with any potential fall viral outbreaks.

But the Big Ten's COVID-19 document acknowledged the "rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic," and Warren has said that the conference's preceding moves didn't assure that football will be played.

"At any point, if our experts come to us and say, '"Look even with all your testing, even with all the motivation, all the things you're doing to help mitigate the virus and protect students, we just don't think you can do this safely,' then we won't," Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said last week.

Stay tuned for more on this story.

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