Allen Supports the Big Ten's Decision to Go to Conference Only Games

Tom Allen Image: Sammy Jacobs, Hoosier Huddle

Written by Andrew Walker

On Thursday, July 9, the Big Ten Conference announced the initiative to only have fall sports play conference foes. Today, head coach Tom Allen commented on the decision, citing how tough it’s going to be on the team to not have that buffer zone before conference play. “...those opportunities to get ready for conference play have been very, very important for us, so you won't have those now. I support the decision that the Big Ten made with that. I understand,” Allen said.

Now, the Hoosiers will have only 10 games in their regular season, all conference opponents. This won’t only be a bad thing for Allen and company. The flexibility for alternative games or cancelled games to be made up now becomes a lot more doable since there’s only 10 regular season games now. “...to be able to have a situation where maybe two teams can't play so now you move that game to a different spot. Whereas with a normal 12-game season with non-conference games mixed in there, there's really no, outside that one bye week, you have no other options. I think the flexibility that it gives us is very important, and for so many unknowns that we have ahead of us I think that was a very positive thing to be able to do,” Allen said. 

Even though the order of games and who the opponent will be is still up in the air, Allen and his staff are looking to the future with optimism. It’s not just about playing less games, having more flexibility, or trying to scrape as much money together in this pandemic-altered season. It’s about the safety of the players. So far, throughout all Indiana University athletic programs there have been only four people who have tested positive for COVID-19 between players, coaches, and staff. Keeping internal assets healthy should be the no. 1 priority even before the fall sports season kicks off. 

Allen is well aware of this and actively supports Indiana’s internal decisions about policies and protocols about COVID-19 as well as the Big Ten’s conference only decision. “We had discussions about it and leadership made that call,’ Allen emphasized, ‘Bottom line is, once again it's about what's best for the players, their well-being and trying to create the best scenario possible for us to have a season, and the control that it gives us, with in protocols that we want to follow as a conference and understanding that those will be followed by the conference schools.”