As scheduling questions abound, the Big 12 cancels its virtual football media day
The Big 12 has canceled its media day for the 2020 football season.
The conference had already postponed and opted for a virtual format earlier this month, moving from July 20-21 at AT&T Stadium to Aug. 3. Now, it’s unclear whether the league will host a media day going into the upcoming football season. The conference said it’s to be determined if the event is rescheduled.
“There continues to be a lot more questions than answers about what the football season will look like,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a statement. “A media day is intended to talk football and the prospects for the season. Part of that discussion is who you will be playing and when. With the on-going consideration of scheduling models by our Board of Directors, this is the best course of action at this time. “
The Big 12 has yet to determine a schedule format for the upcoming season. The board of directors is expected to meet on Monday where they’ll be presented a number of different models.
The favorite appears to be a conference-only format plus one non-conference game to reach a 10-game season similar to other conferences such as the Big Ten, Pac-12 and now SEC. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC are doing conference-only formats while the Big 12 schools would have to add one non-conference game to go along with nine conference games.
News broke of the SEC playing a 10-game, conference-only schedule at the same time the Big 12 canceled its media day. The SEC is expected to start its season on Sept. 26.
With the SEC going to a conference-only format, it eliminated high-profile non-conference games with the Big 12 headlined by Texas at LSU. Other games canceled included Baylor-Ole Miss in Houston, Tennessee-Oklahoma and Vanderbilt-Kansas State.
The ACC is also going to a conference-only format with an option for schools to play one non-conference game.
With a 10-team league, the Big 12 would only play a nine-game season under a conference-only format. That’s why the “plus-one” model could be intriguing for the league. The idea of salvaging a 12-game season does not seem realistic at this point.
As of now, the Big 12 has yet to make a decision on schedule format and start date. Schools are preparing for a fall season, though, possibly as early as Aug. 29.
TCU, for instance, is expected to put the pads on and conduct its first fall camp practice on Friday.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 3:37 PM.
