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Fearing their own shadows, the Big Ten has canceled ALL fall sports through the end of the calendar year. This announcement included a thinly veiled promise to attempt to pick up the sports in the spring.
Following their daddy’s lead, the Pac-12 has mimicked this decision. These acts leaves several thousand healthy student-athletes heartbroken and bewildered. Thanks for speaking up, kids! Now back to your corner.
With a month and a half to go before a potential opening weekend, Barrett Sallee put it best.
It seems like the Big Ten and Pac-12 are punting on 4th-and-inches from the opponent's 35-yard line.
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) August 10, 2020
Should the two conferences attempt to play in the spring, many teams will likely look like split squad teams with many players opting out. Some players may look to prepare for the NFL draft. For those who do play in spring - possibly through April, May or later - they would be expected to ramp it up again in August. Two to three months is not much time to recover from a college football season.
Not everyone is pleased with the leadership.
Power 5 AD on Big Ten & Pac-12 canceling fall football:
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) August 11, 2020
“You’ve got one pro guy with no background in the industry in Kevin Warren and a guy in Larry Scott who acts like he’s smarter than everyone else. We’re supposed to be about the players. This isn’t about the players.”
Kevin Warren is the rookie Big Ten commissioner who continues to make rash decisions without consulting anyone. The lack of communication in the B1G is astonishing.
Kevin Warren wouldn’t answer fair questions asked on his conference’s network AFTER he made an unprecedented decision to cancel the fall season.
— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) August 12, 2020
Greg Sankey went on The Dan Patrick Show and Good Morning America today and tweeted multiple times yesterday.
That says it all.
"It certainly caught me off guard," Ryan Day says on reports that the Big Ten was on the verge of canceling the season.
— BuckeyeScoop (@BuckeyeScoop) August 10, 2020
Larry Scott is the bumbling embattled commissioner of the Pac-12. He must have a heck of a buyout to have not been fired at this point.
Pac-12 players say the conference's commissioner, Larry Scott, was condescending and dismissive of them during a call about the virus, and told them their #WeAreUnited post in @PlayersTribune was a "“misguided P.R. stunt.” @billywitz:https://t.co/SObcFmfZIB
— Oskar Garcia (@oskargarcia) August 8, 2020
The speculation now turns to the SEC, BIG XII, and ACC. The doomsdayers giddily believe these conferences will follow suit, but Greg Sankey will do everything in his power to play football this year.
SEC commish: Medical experts gave conference green light to effort toward 2020 college football seasonhttps://t.co/xGv40vlWiF
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) August 11, 2020
Meanwhile in Tuscaloosa...
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.”
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) August 12, 2020
- #WeWantToPlay pic.twitter.com/M9DvvaZWig