Big Ten university presidents were meeting Sunday night to discuss the fate of football and other fall athletics, according to a report from Yahoo Sports.
Report: Big Ten presidents meeting Sunday on canceling football, other fall sports
Yahoo Sports reported that a session on Saturday showed "there was a strong majority – but not unanimous – in support of canceling the season." Another call was reportedly taking place tonight.
August 10, 2020 at 1:17AM
Yahoo's Pete Thamel reported:that a similar call on Saturday showed "there was a strong majority – but not unanimous – in support of canceling the season. The group took more than 24 hours before reconvening on Sunday night to discuss the issues again. Sources around the league have indicated that there's an expectation that the league will cancel fall sports. The variable in question remains when the decision is made and whether the Big Ten can convince anyone else in joining it on the sideline."
The Mid-American Conference became the first Division I league to cancel fall sports, announcing its decision on Saturday.
Thamel also reporter that commissioners from football's "Power Five" conferences -- the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Pac-12 -- talked on Sunday. But Thamel reported that "the varied agendas and complications of each league make it unlikely that there will be some imminent unified announcement throughout college sports. The potential end of college football in 2020 projects to be as disjoined and messy as the end of college basketball in March."
Sports Illustrated also reported on the Power Five and Big Ten meetings. "It's gotten to a critical stage. I think all of us will be meeting with our boards in the coming days. We have work to do that is no fun."
That report also said Big 12 and Pac-12 school presidents have meetings scheduled for Tuesday,
In an interview, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said no decisions on the season have been made, but conceded the outlook is not imrpiving over a couple of weeks ago.
"Are we in a better place today than two weeks, ago?" he said. "No, we're not."
But some players are parents are urging that the season go on.
The parents of Ohio State football players posted a letter saying they were confident in the university's plan to keep their sons safe. "We believe that this age group represents some of the healthiest individuals, while we recognize the risk cannot be eliminated, we believe the risk is minimal and the season can safely and responsibly occur," wrote the Football Parents Association at Ohio State.
College football players used social media Sunday to push for the season to take place, led by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with a series of tweets.
"People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don't play," Lawrence tweeted. "Players will all be sent home to their own communities where social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract covid19."
Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth had a similar message.
"Since day one coming back to campus the Penn State Football staff and medical experts have put our health and safety first, above anything else," he tweeted. "The guidelines put into place keep us safe while playing the game we love. We are ready to play and we want to play."
Other players tweeted with the hashtag #WeWantToPlay.
Information from The Associated Press in included in this report
