Big Ten to Cancel 2020 Football Season

The Big Ten is expected to cancel the 2020 college football season in a historic move that stems from concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, multiple people with knowledge of the decision told the Free Press.

“It’s done,” one high-ranking source in the Big Ten said Monday afternoon.

Sources said the presidents were in favor Sunday of not playing fall sports in the conference. Michigan and Michigan State — which both have physicians as presidents — were among the schools in favor of ending the seasons, sources said.

Multiple sources said early Monday morning that presidents voted 12-2 to end the season, though the Big Ten said Monday afternoon no official vote had taken place. Dan Patrick, who first reported the 12-2 vote, said on his radio show that Iowa and Nebraska were the two schools in favor or playing.

According to The Lansing State Journal, Big Ten presidents were expected to meet again Monday at 6 p.m. to formally vote on ending the season. One Free Press source said Monday afternoon the schools are expected to move forward in the same direction.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the decision. A formal announcement is expected Tuesday, multiple sources said. The situation remains fluid as the Big Ten tries to coordinate its announcement with other Power Five conferences.

The Chicago Tribune reported around noon that “a top-level” Big Ten source texted that, “No final decisions have been made,” while the Columbus Dispatch reported as of 12:25 p.m. that Ohio State had not yet been ordered to suspend practices.

Since then, coaches and players in the conference, including Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Nebraska’s Scott Frost and OSU quarterback Justin Fields, have lobbied for the season to commence this fall.

“Swinging as hard as we possibly can right now for these players!! This isn’t over!,” Day tweeted.

Harbaugh ended his statement released by the university with the hashtags: #WeWantToPlay and #WeWantToCoach.

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SOURCE: Detroit Free Press, by Orion Sang, David Jesse, Chris Solari and Chris Thomas