Big Ten, Pac-12 bow to covid-19, call off football, other fall sports

Big Ten and Pac-12 chancellors and presidents, representing two of the Power 5 conferences, postponed football and all fall sports for the 2020 season, choosing not to face the risk of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pac-12 went one step further, postponing all sports through the end of 2020, including the first two months of winter competition.

Statement from @CoachJim4UM regarding the postponement of the 2020 season… pic.twitter.com/vXW7S1ZPWT

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 11, 2020

Big Ten officials said they will evaluate several options regarding a return to competition, including moving the seasons to the spring. They also will continue to evaluate winter and spring sports.

The decision was based on several factors, officials said, plus a reliance on the medical advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.

“The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said in a statement. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion … it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”

Other than football, the affected fall sports are men’s and women’s cross country and soccer, field hockey and women’s volleyball.

The Big Ten was the first Power 5 conference to postpone football, but it joined the Mountain West and the Mid-American conferences in bowing to covid-19.

The Big Ten’s action is not a surprise after reports surfaced Sunday that the conference and the Pac-12 were thinking seriously about postponing or canceling the season.

Big Ten coaches Ryan Day of Ohio State, Jim Harbaugh of Michigan, James Franklin of Penn State and Nebraska’s Scott Frost spoke out publicly in an attempt to delay or halt cancellation plans. Players across the nation started a #LetUsPlay campaign on social media.

“We know how significant the student-athlete experience can be in shaping the future of the talented young women and men who compete in the Big Ten Conference,” Warren continued with his statement. “Although that knowledge made this a painstaking decision, it did not make it difficult.

“While I know our decision will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point.

“Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said in a statement she was “heartbroken” for the student-athletes, but she also said Penn State supports the Big Ten’s decision.

“A piece of our student-athletes’ collegiate experience has been taken from them for reasons beyond their control and for that, I am heartbroken,” she said.

Penn State released statements from coaches of five fall sports Tuesday night. Franklin was not among them.

Earlier in the day, Franklin said on ESPN’s “Get Up” show that the conference should wait to make a decision.

But after 15 Big Ten players contracted covid-19 that led to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, the conference didn’t want to widen the risk by playing football in the fall.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told the Associated Press on Sunday there was “growing evidence” of concern over myocarditis. Medical experts have told West Virginia athletic director Shane Lyons that moving to the spring “will give us more time to be able to understand if the virus does necessarily impact the heart.”

The Big 12, ACC and SEC did not follow their two Power 5 brethern Tuesday in postponing fall sports. The ACC and SEC issued statements.

Statement from @SEC Commissioner @GregSankey pic.twitter.com/8nyweGPBk1

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) August 11, 2020

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey referenced the cancellations; the ACC did not.

“I look forward to learning more about the factors that led the Big Ten and Pac-12 leadership to take these actions,” Sankey said.

The ACC statement concluded with the conference’s acknowledging the need to “stay flexible and be prepared to adjust.”

Statement from the ACC: pic.twitter.com/9lBY5h8jNy

— The ACC (@theACC) August 11, 2020