Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all.
Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports
to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the
conference changed course Wednesday and said it plans to begin its
season the weekend of Oct. 24. Each team will have an eight-game
schedule.
The Big Ten said its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted
unanimously Tuesday to restart sports. The emergence of daily
rapid-response COVID-19 testing, not available when university
presidents and chancellors decided to pull the plug on the season,
helped trigger a re-vote.
The Pac-12 recently announced a partnership with a diagnostic lab
that will give the conference’s schools the capacity to test
athletes daily. The Big Ten believes it can do the same and that it
is a game-changer.
The move came amid sharp pressure from coaches, a lawsuit from
players and pressure from parents and even President Donald Trump
pushing for a Big Ten football season. The conference is home to a
number of battleground states in the November election.
***Story courtesy of Metro News Source***
