NATIONWIDE — The Big Ten conference has reportedly voted to cancel its 2020 college football season, becoming the first “Power Five” league to bow to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
The Detroit Free Press was the first to report on the Big Ten’s decision, citing sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the vote.
However, a spokesman for the Big Ten said the league has not yet voted on the matter: "No vote has been held by our presidents and chancellors."
In an ominous sign that college football as a whole might be in trouble due to the coronavirus pandemic, the commissioners of the “Power Five” conferences reportedly held an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the fate of fall sports.
ESPN reported the commissioners discussed collaborating if they cancel or postpone the sports. The vast majority of Big Ten university presidents had already supported canceling or postponing fall sports and wanted to gauge if other commissioners and presidents in the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC might follow suit, the report said.
On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference became the first Football Bowl Subdivision league to postpone its fall sports season.
In the lower-level Football Championship Subdivision, nine of the 13 leagues have announced they will not play this season. And NCAA’s Division II and Division III fall championships have already been canceled.
Meanwhile, sensing the upcoming season could be on the brink of cancellation, college football players have launched a #WeWantToPlay campaign on social media.
“People are at just as much, if not more risk, if we don’t play,” tweeted Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, one of college football’s biggest stars. “Players will all be sent home to their own communities where social distancing is highly unlikely and medical care and expenses will be placed on the families if they were to contract covid19."
“Not to mention the players coming from situations that are not good for them/ their future and having to go back to that,” the Heisman Trophy candidate added. “Football is a safe haven for so many people. We are more likely to get the virus in everyday life than playing football.”
President Donald Trump even weighed in on the #WeWantToPlay campaign Monday, saying "the student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled."
The online movement began after a large group of college football’s top players organized a Zoom call to discuss their options. The players are calling for mandated health and safety procedures and want players to have the option of sitting out the season without losing a year of eligibility.