Big Ten, Pac-12 postpone football season, will attempt to play in the spring

After a weekend full of speculation, the Big Ten has voted to postpone their football season and attempt to play in the spring. An official statement was made this afternoon.

The Big Ten is the first major conference to pull the plug on fall football, following the direction of the MAC and the Mountain West, which have canceled their seasons already due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pac-12 is rumored to be on the brink of also canceling or postponing their season.

As far as we know, the SEC and ACC are taking more of a wait and see approach with the season slated to start near the end of September. The Big 12 is expected meet and discuss options later on Tuesday.

There’s clearly a disconnect here with leadership figures and players/coaches. Players from all over the college football landscape were loud on Twitter with their #WeWantToPlay message, and plenty of coaches echoed that message. But that movement wasn’t enough to save the Big Ten season — at least a fall version of one.

The fallout from this will be fascinating — will it pressure the SEC/ACC/Big 12 to follow the Big Ten? Can those three conferences align and work together? Will student-athletes lose a year of eligibility? How would an NFL Draft work if you play in the spring? Is playing in the spring actually a realistic option?

We should know plenty more in the coming days.

Update: The Pac-12 has followed the Big Ten