Домой United States USA — Sport Will there be college football this fall? A conference-by-conference breakdown

Will there be college football this fall? A conference-by-conference breakdown

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A surreal Monday in college football started with a player-led push to take the field (and form a players’ association). It continued as Big Ten coaches — and President Trump — took up the cause. Will it be enough to save a fall season?
A day unlike any other in college football history started at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday when the game’s biggest star, Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, was among the dozens of players to tweet a statement that expressed their desire to play the 2020 season and shared items they feel need to be addressed to ensure a safe and fair environment for student-athletes moving forward. Lawrence was joined by dozens of players, including Ohio State QB Justin Fields, Oregon OT Penei Sewell and Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard. It set the stage for a day that included a presidential tweet, Big Ten coaches like Ryan Day and Jim Harbaugh fighting to save their seasons, and Scott Frost even floating the idea of playing outside the Big Ten for a year if the conference shut down its fall season. When the day began, it felt like a foregone conclusion that at least the Big Ten and Pac-12 would soon be postponing football until the spring. As the day ended, there was a sense the conferences might just delay their season a few weeks before making a final decision. Here’s a conference-by-conference look at where things stand heading into a Tuesday that promises to be just as chaotic: Monday in the Big Ten began with premature reports that the league’s presidents already had decided to postpone fall sports, including football. Around midday, a league spokesman confirmed to ESPN and others that no vote had been taken on the fall season. Still, all signs pointed to the Big Ten pulling the plug by Tuesday, especially if the Pac-12 was on board, too. Then, the league’s most prominent coaches began speaking out. Loudly. And seemingly against many of the league’s presidents. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh went first, outlining why the plan to play football is working and can continue on a positive track. Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Penn State’s James Franklin posted Twitter messages supporting their players and the #WeWantToPlay push. The boldest words came from Nebraska’s Scott Frost, who said the school was completely aligned to play a season and would even attempt to compete outside the Big Ten, if necessary. How will the coaches’ messages impact Big Ten presidents, who meet again Tuesday morning and likely will vote on the fall season? The presidents could stick with their initial plan to postpone all fall sports until 2021, an option that clearly wouldn’t sit well with coaches, players and fans. Or they could push back the start of the football season a few weeks and see how practices and the repopulating of campuses impact the landscape. Several league sources and longtime Big Ten observers think first-year commissioner Kevin Warren and the presidents must «read the room» and resist the impulse to postpone outright. But sources also say Warren is extremely concerned about the long-term effects of COVID-19, especially heart damage.

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