Pac-12 announces conference-only model
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Jul 12, 2020
All 14 Big Ten schools play women's soccer; just nine play men's soccer.
And now we can add Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren to that list.
As she has consistently, Barbour indicated a willingness to do everything possible to avoid the cancellation of the fall season. Which came on the heels of the Ivy League canceling all fall sport competition a day before that.
Despite the Big Ten's announcement, Warren is unsure that a fall season will definitely happen. And the move didn't wash away fears the entire fall season could be in jeopardy. "Details on conference-only schedules will be announced no later than July 31". "I was cautiously optimistic".
There was much more that was said, but the fact that many are now believing that college football is in real danger for the fall because of the spike in COVID-19 cases is pretty big news - especially when you hear it directly from the mouth of the man running the Big Ten Conference.
The Big Ten has made summer workouts voluntary.
"FAU athletics is aware of the Big Ten's decision to move to a conference-only schedule and we're looking into the matter further at this time", a representative for the Owls said in a statement.
The marquee nonconference matchups in the Big Ten this season included Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin on October 3 at Lambeau Field, home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
Non-Power Five schools receive hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than $1 million from guarantee games to fund their athletic departments.
The meeting, per the report, has been planned for at least two weeks and was not in reaction to the Big Ten's decision on Thursday.
One of the reasons the Pac-12 chose to push back the start of the football season was a concern that UCLA and USC would not be ready to play in early September because of coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles area, sources told ESPN.
Illinois State was scheduled to play at Illinois on September 4. We've heard from Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith on his less-than-optimistic outlook on where things are headed. He said the budget is in a "constant state of flux", but there are no plans to cut sports. It also said that any athlete that chooses not to participate in activities for the 2020-2021 academic year will continue to have their scholarships honored and will remain in good standing.
