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As August drags on, whether we have college football or not remains uncertain. Two FBS conferences have already decided to not play this fall: the Mountain West and the MAC. However, no Power Five conferences had made official decisions entering Tuesday.
The two Power Five conferences with its seasons seriously hanging in the balance are the Big Ten and Pac-12. The decisions made today can determine how the rest of college football makes its decisions.
The Big Ten started its meeting at 10:30 a.m. this morning. The Pac-12 is expected to meet today as well. These meetings should involve a decision on fall sports.
Yesterday, reports said that the Big Ten and Pac-12 were canceling its season on Tuesday. However, none of that has turned out to be official. But there is push back on this. ESPN’s Heather Dinich said the pushback is quite great but might not be enough.
The push back on canceling the season could mean conferences hold back on pulling the plug. That being said, analysts don’t see college football going on without two Power Five conferences. But that doesn’t mean they won’t.
By the end of today, the Big Ten and Pac-12 seasons could be canceled, moved or something else. No one really knows until the meetings adjourn.
UPDATES
The Big Ten announced it will cancel its season, per ESPN. The Big Ten announced as well it will attempt to play a season in the fall.
Sources: Big Ten is announcing that the fall is cancelled. League will attempt to play in the spring.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 11, 2020
Players were pulled from practice as the conference goes through with its cancellation.
Two sources tells the Free Press that MSU players were pulled from practice today and told the football season is canceled and that the Big Ten is aiming to be push it to spring. A third source at another Big Ten school confirms no football this fall. https://t.co/N2SO73MWUs
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) August 11, 2020
The Pac-12 is expected to make its announcement at 4 p.m. eastern. As of now the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are continuing as planned.
Update: 4:00 p.m.
The Pac-12 has announced it will not have college football in the fall. Four FBS schools, two Power Five, have not moved to not play this fall due to COVID-19.
Pac-12 has canceled fall football season, source told @Stadium. “We’re done,” source said. Official announcement at 4:30 p.m. ET
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 11, 2020
Scholarships for athletes impacted by this decision will be upheld, according to ESPN. The Pac-12 is also encouraging the NCAA to grant students who opt out of playing this academic year an additional year of eligibility.