AP Top 25 Takeaways: Huskers get tough draw; UCF rising star
Most notable on the Big Ten's schedule was how Nebraska will start the season: at Ohio State and home for Wisconsin. Nebraska had both Ohio State and Penn State on its original nine-game, pre-pandemic conference schedule, along with Rutgers. Ohio State definitely caught a break with the new schedule. It might not have been the plan to cut Ohio State, the league's clear favorite and defending champ, some slack. When the SEC redid its schedule to make it 10 conference games, the league ended up feeding its weaker teams to its powerhouses.
Big Tenโs cardiac registry aims to study effects of COVID-19
ANN ARBOR, Mich. โ The Big Tenโs plan to play football this fall includes trying to save lives in the future. The conference, which reversed course and announced Wednesday it would have a fall football season, is setting up a cardiac registry to study the effects COVID-19 has on athletes' hearts. The Big Ten did not point directly to myocarditis its its decision, instead emphasizing the emergence of daily, rapid-response COVID-19 testing. But the cardiac registry was noted by Big Ten leadership. It will include athletes from all sports who test positive for COVID-19 and consent to be part of the study.
Big Ten changes course, aims for October start to football
FILE - In this June 4, 2019, file photo, Kevin Warren talks to reporters after being named Big Ten Conference Commissioner during a news conference in Rosemont, Ill. Leaders of six state legislatures in the Big Ten footprint have sent a letter to commissioner Kevin Warren asking the conference to reconsider its decision to cancel the fall football season. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. The Big Ten said its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously Tuesday to restart sports. 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.
Big Ten reinstates fall football season, with games scheduled to begin Oct. 23-24
ANN ARBOR, Mich. โ The Big Ten announced Wednesday that it has reinstated the 2020 fall football season, with games scheduled to begin Oct. 23-24. This reversal comes five weeks after Big Ten presidents voted against playing any fall sports. We respect the challenge that the virus has presented, however we will not cower from it.โIt took several weeks, but Harbaugh has gotten his wish. Six days before postponing the season, Big Ten officials released a modified 10-game, conference-only schedule for each member. Even without bye weeks, a 10-game schedule would carry the Big Ten football season through Christmas.
AP Source: Big Ten presidents to discuss starting football
FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2013, file photo, Ohio State plays against Florida A&M at Ohio Stadium during an NCAA college football game in Columbus, Ohio. Seventy-seven of those teams are scheduled to play throughout the fall, starting at various times in September. 2 Ohio State, No. The Big Ten postponed its fall season Aug. 11 because of concerns about playing through the COVID-19 pandemic, with presidents voting 11-3 in favor. On the first Saturday of the football season that included Power Five teams playing, Big Ten teams were idle while athletic directors and university leaders were working on ways to possibly salvage a fall football season.
Midwest legislative leaders urge Big Ten to reconsider fall sports
Michigan Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) and other Midwest legislative leaders announced Tuesday they sent a joint letter to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren encouraging the conference to reconsider its stance on the fall sports season. The Big Ten Conference announced on Aug. 11 that it would move its football season to the spring semester because of health risks associated with the coronavirus. Over the weekend, President Trump tweeted Big Ten members University of Michigan and Michigan State University could be excluded from the next football season due to the governors response to the coronavirus. Big Ten Football is looking really good, but may lose Michigan, Illinois and Maryland because of those Governors' ridiculous lack of interest or political support, Trump tweeted Sunday. Last week, the Michigan High School School Athletic Association (MHSAA) reinstated football and other high school sports.
Trump calls on Big Ten Conference to play fall football
Big Ten presidents voted 11-3 to postpone the football season until spring, bringing some clarity to a key question raised in a lawsuit brought by a group of Nebraska football players. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)The Big Ten Conference, already in court and under pressure from players and parents over its decision to cancel fall football, is now hearing from President Donald Trump. Trump tweeted Tuesday that he had spoken with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren about reinstating the fall season. Had a very productive conversation with Kevin Warren, Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, about immediately starting up Big Ten football," the tweet said. Pete Ricketts has been a vocal proponent of the Cornhuskers playing fall football.
Big Ten presidents voted 11-3 to cancel fall football season
A court filing disclosed Monday shows Big Ten Conference presidents voted 11-3 to postpone the football season, bringing some clarity to a key question raised in a lawsuit brought by a group of Nebraska football players. The court documents did not identify how each school voted, but a person familiar with the outcome told The Associated Press that Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State voted against postponing the fall football season. The Big Ten announced Aug. 11 it would move its football season from fall to spring semester because of health risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The eight football players are seeking the reinstatement of a fall season. The Big Ten Conference continues to share the disappointment that student-athletes and families are feeling," the conference said in a statement.
NCAA's top doctor: COVID-19 testing needs to improve to play
The Big Ten won't play football this fall because of concerns about COVID-19, becoming the first of college sports' power conferences to yield to the pandemic. Much of the fall college sports season has been canceled, with conferences hoping to make up competitions, including football, in the spring. The NCAA has no jurisdiction over major college football, so the conferences have been left to make their own calls. Six leagues, including the Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference and Big 12, are moving forward with plans to play in the fall. He added: Were not in a place today where we could safely play sports.___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Big Ten parents call on league to play; OU has 9 positives
A group of Ohio State football players' parents Saturday joined parents of players at Iowa in calling for the Big Ten to overturn its decision not to play this fall because of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said nine Sooners tested positive for COVID-19 after he gave his players a week break from team activities. The Football Parents at Ohio State posted on social media a letter to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, calling for the reinstatement of the 10-game schedule the conference unveiled six days before it postponed football until spring. We believe that the protocols put in place by Ohio State Athletics has provided an extremely safe environment for our players to prepare for the season," the letter said. Our sons work extremely hard for the opportunity to play and fully understand the risks involved when they step on the field.
Pac-12, Big Ten ponder fall football as another school punts
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)Officials in the Big Ten and Pac-12 resumed discussions Tuesday about whether college football should be played this fall as another program decided to punt on its coming season because of the pandemic. Massachusetts became the second Northeast independent program in the highest tier of NCAA football to cancel the fall season, joining Connecticut. At the top of major college football, the Big Ten and Pac-12 were seriously considering pulling the plug on the fall, too. We feel really strongly in the Pac-12, and really to make football safe, that we need to get results back in less than 24 hours, Petron said. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Big Ten Commissioner Warren creates anti-racism coalition
The Big Ten's Kevin Warren, the first black commissioner of a Power Five conference, is creating a coalition to give the league's athletes a platform to voice their concerns about racism. Warren announced Monday the formation of the Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition, with athletes, coaches, athletic director and university chancellors and presidents. It was one year ago Tuesday, that Warren, a former NFL executive with the Minnesota Vikings, was offered the job of Big Ten commissioner. I trust our chancellors, our presidents and our athletic directors and our coaches and our student-athletes, Warren said. Warren said he felt a responsibility to 10,000 student athletes in the Big Ten to try to combat systemic racism.