Report: Canceling or postponing fall college football appears inevitable

Pitt’s Jaylen Twyman and Penn State’s Micah Parsons, who decided to opt out this season, soon might be joined by the entirety of their college football brethren.

ESPN reported Sunday night that sources told the network postponing or canceling the football season appears inevitable.

Power 5 commissioners held an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss their next course of action while college administrators wonder how football and other fall sports can be played in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN reported, citing sources.

Big Ten presidents might be the first to cancel or postpone fall sports, and they want to determine if top officials of the ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Pac-12 are ready to follow.

ESPN reported a large majority of Big Ten presidents have indicated they would vote to postpone football season. There is hope it would be postponed until spring.

A Big Ten official confirmed to ESPN that no official vote took place Saturday, but the presidents were set to meet again Sunday night.

“It doesn’t look good,” one Power 5 athletic director told ESPN.

Along with Twyman and Parsons, several top players have decided to opt out, including Miami’s Gregory Rousseau, Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley, Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore and Maryland quarterback Josh Jackson.

The ACC and Big Ten recently had reconfigured their fall football schedules to restrict exposure by playing mainly conference opponents. The ACC built an 11-game model, accepting football independent Notre Dame as a member for 2020 only, with one nonconference opponent for each team.

The Big Ten had decided to play a 10-game, conference-only schedule.

Pitt already lost its nonconference opponent, Miami (Ohio), when the Mid-American Conference on Saturday became the first major college league to postpone fall sports, hopefully, to the spring.

Pitt was scheduled to play Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 5 at Heinz Field. Penn State’s opener was set for Sept. 12 against Northwestern at Beaver Stadium.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told ESPN, “My view is if we change course, we better be able to articulate the reason for doing so to our student-athletes.”

“No one has talked about a plan if the season is canceled,” West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons, chair of the Football Oversight Committee, told ESPN. “If it’s canceled, we need to be able to give clear direction at that time, as opposed to saying, ‘We don’t know.’ “

Presidents and chancellors of the Pac-12 universities are scheduled to meet Tuesday.

Before taking action, officials of the ACC, Big 12 and SEC hoped to wait until students return to campuses by the thousands this month. But the Big Ten and Pac-12 might force their hands, sources told ESPN.