No Penn State football this fall as the Big Ten postpones the 2020-21 sports season
The verdict has finally come from the Big Ten.
After several days of tumult and conflicting reports, the conference has decided to postpone the 2020-21 fall sports season, including all regular-season contests and Big Ten Championships and tournaments, due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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 release. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with out Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall.”
The conference announced Tuesday afternoon its intention to cancel the fall season for football, soccer, women’s volleyball, cross country and field hockey during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the possibility of trying to play in the spring. The decision comes after the Mid-American Conference announced Saturday morning that it would postpone its fall sports season, and the Mountain West Conference announced Monday that it would do the same.
Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour released a statement supporting the conference’s decision.
“I know this was not an easy decision, or one taken lightly by those involved,” the statement read. “However, it was the decision the university presidents, Commissioner Kevin Warren and the athletic directors believe was best for the long-term health and safety of our student-athletes.”
The Big Ten is the only “Power-5” conference that has canceled its season thus far. The Atlantic Coastal Conference, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference are all currently set to play this fall.
The conference’s decision was up in the air in recent days with reports from ESPN and Sports Illustrated saying a cancellation was inevitable, while the Detroit Free Press reported Monday morning that the decision had been made to cancel the season. The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein refuted the report with a tweet saying a decision hadn’t been made, even though it seemed to be trending toward cancellation.
Penn State head coach James Franklin — along with other prominent coaches such as Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh — voiced their support of the players who continually persisted with posts on social media about their desire to play.
Franklin later released a statement on his personal Twitter account stating his desire to delay the season and utilize the flexibility the new schedule created.
The decision was made six days after the Big Ten released its revised conference-only schedule for the fall season. The revised schedule was released with maximum flexibility in mind, and allowed for games to be postponed and moved around in case of COVID-19 concerns.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 3:14 PM with the headline "No Penn State football this fall as the Big Ten postpones the 2020-21 sports season."
