Big Ten Conference
ROSEMONT, IL (WSAU) — The 2020 College Football season may have been read its last rights on Monday.
Big Ten Presidents have reportedly voted 12-2 in favor of canceling the upcoming season with the hopes of playing football in some form in the spring. Only Nebraska and Iowa voted in favor of saving the season.
A formal announcement is expected to be made as soon as Tuesday. The news comes just days after the Big Ten announced its revamped schedule for the 2020 season with each school playing ten conference games and a league championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The news was first reported by The Dan Patrick Show Monday morning and confirmed by at least three sources to the Detroit Free Press about an hour later.
The PAC 12 Conference is expected to follow suit. Leaders of the ACC, SEC, and Big 12 are reportedly not ready to pull the plug on their seasons just yet. But with all five leagues holding a stake in the College Football Playoff, many believe the other three have had their hand forced by the Big Ten and PAC 12.
The decision comes five months after the NCAA canceled its cash cow; the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball championships along with the rest of the spring and fall title events such as baseball, softball, wrestling, track and field, and lacrosse.
Until last weekend Division I FBS was the only level of football that had not seen a widespread impact from COVID-19 related cancelations. The NCAA had already pulled the plug on Division II and III titles with many of those associated conferences making widespread changes to their schedules. The National Junior College Athletic Association had already canceled its season a few weeks ago. Many NAIA leagues had moved their competition to the spring.
Then came Saturday when it was announced that there would be no Division I FCS tournament after more than half of its member schools altered or canceled their plans for the upcoming season. The Mid American Conference then became the first FBS league to postpone their season.
Football independent UConn announced the cancelation of their schedule as well. While Notre Dame announced they would play a full ACC schedule to preserve their season.
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