Big Ten Football is Back! Takeaways from the League’s Return to Play Announcement

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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

After weeks of public pressure and speculation on whether or not the Big Ten would revisit their decision to opt out of a fall football season entirely, Wednesday morning brought the news fans and players had been hoping for. A little more than a month from now, the Indiana Hoosiers and the rest of the Big Ten conference will begin their 2020 football season. You can find the entire release from the league right here (add link to the release). My key takeaways are below:

1.     The league will return to play on the weekend of October 24 with eight league games played over the course of eight straight weeks and the Big Ten Championship Game contested on December 19. This leaves basically no margin for error in terms of postponements or rescheduling of games as there are no built-in bye weeks. What happens if a team cannot take the field for one of their games? Do they forfeit? Is that game just not counted on the record?

2.     The conference ended up being comfortable once daily and rapid testing became feasible for all programs. Each player and coach will be given a daily antigen test. Athletes who test positive for COVID-19 will then receive a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the original test result. The Big Ten will rely on each institution designating a Chief Infection Officer (CInO) to oversee the collection of and reporting of data. The positivity rate and overall population positivity rate will be used to determine whether or not a team can keep practicing and competing.

3.     The Big Ten is establishing a cardiac registry that will examine the effects on the heart (myocarditis) for student-athletes. This was a chief concern when the Big Ten presidents initially shut things down. Clearly, the decision makers felt this registry will adequately address that particular concern.

4.     If a team surpasses 7.5% in either the number of positive tests (team positivity rate) or the population positivity rate, that program will be forced to stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days. The earliest a student athlete can return to game competition is 21 days following a COVID-19 positive test. This means a positive test could result in a player missing nearly half of the season.

5.     There were rumors that some institutions would opt out and not play, regardless of the overall conference decision. The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to resume the football season.

There are plenty of questions that still need answered. What is IU’s schedule? Will the Big Ten be eligible for polls or for the College Football Playoff? How will postseason eligibility/bowl games be determined? Will there even be bowl games? Hoosier Huddle will continue to cover this developing story and answer those questions when possible but for now, it’s time to get excited. IU football is finally on the horizon!