Big Ten, Pac-12 postpone college football until spring. All eyes now on ACC, SEC, Big 12
According to multiple reports, the Pac-12 Conference postponed the 2020 college football season on Tuesday.
The Pac-12 followed the Big Ten, which became the first Power 5 conference to postpone college football because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN and other outlets reported.
“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 statement. “As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our 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.
“While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point. Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The decision came after the presidents of the 14 universities comprising the Big Ten voted in favor of postponing the 2020 season, with hopes of playing in spring 2021, according to reports.
Now, all eyes turn to the ACC, SEC and Big 12 conferences and await their decisions on the 2020 season.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 joined the Mid-American Conference and the Mountain West Conference in postponing fall sports.
The decision by the Big Ten came despite a social media push by players to save the season, with Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields leading the way.
Last week, UConn became the first FBS program to cancel its 2020 football season because of COVID-19.
Also last week, the Division II and III fall sports championships were canceled because of the pandemic.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 2:07 PM.