Big Ten announces fall football schedule; other sports postponed

(Press Release) — The Big Ten Conference announced today that the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) has approved plans for the 2020 football season, including a 10-game Conference-only schedule beginning as early as the weekend of September 5.

In making this announcement, the Conference acknowledges that there is much work to be done on our campuses, in our communities and across the country to gain control of a virus that continues to spread at an alarming rate. While the Conference remains hopeful for a September 2020 start in all fall sports, including football, issuing a schedule does not guarantee that competition will occur. While our strategy is to continue planning for all fall sports, if the virus continues to spread among our students despite our many preventative measures, including testing and quarantine protocols, we are also prepared to delay or cancel competition pursuant to local and state public health orders or the recommendations of our medical experts. As Commissioner Kevin Warren has consistently stated, our country is navigating unprecedented times and throughout all decisions, the health and safety of our students, student-athletes, and everyone associated with our Big Ten university communities remains our primary focus as we work with our institutions to provide a healthy and productive learning environment that includes intercollegiate athletic competition.

In addition to plans for the 2020 football season, the Conference announced that competition start dates for men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball have been postponed through at least September 5. Conference-only schedules for these sports will be released at a later date as scheduling for these sports remains fluid. Administrators, coaches, and Conference staff have been working daily to create schedules that provide the appropriate levels of flexibility to respond in real-time to necessary changes.

The Conference also released the 2020 football schedule:

• The plan is for Big Ten institutions to play a 10-game Conference-only schedule including the nine current opponents and one additional cross-division game
• The schedule starts as early as the weekend of Sept. 5 with final games slated for Nov. 21 to align with academic calendars
• The 10 games would be played over at least 12 weeks with each team having two open dates
• The schedule is structured to maximize flexibility:
  • Games can be collapsed into bye weeks
  • Uniform bye week on Nov. 28
  • Cross-division games are currently scheduled for all schools in Week 1 (Sept. 5) and Week 12 (Nov. 21)
  • Schedule constructed in a way that allows season to start as early as the weekend of Sept. 5, but also provides the ability to move the start of the season back to Sept. 12, 19 or 26 through strategic sequencing that allows games to be moved to a latter part of the schedule
• Big Ten Football Championship Game remains scheduled for Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, though it could be moved as late as Dec. 19
• Teams can begin preseason practices on Friday, Aug. 7, or earlier if permitted under NCAA guidelines related to first dates of scheduled competition

The following is a joint statement from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green and Athletic Director Bill Moos regarding today’s announcements from the Big Ten Conference:

“We welcome these important steps forward for fall football from the Big Ten. There has been a tremendous amount of consultation and hard work to get to this point. It was a team effort with valuable input from the Big Ten Conference staff, University chancellors and presidents, head coaches and athletic directors to develop a football schedule that prioritizes divisional games and provides some needed flexibility.

“The top priority remains to conduct a football season in the safest and healthiest manner possible for everyone involved. There are still many steps ahead before we can take the field in September, beginning with opening preseason camp later this week. But there is no question this is an exciting day at Nebraska. Our players and coaching staff now have a schedule in front of them, and Husker fans can see how the 2020 season will unfold.

“Our next task is finalizing many of the details and protocols for football game days at Memorial Stadium in 2020. We will be announcing those details very soon after consultation with state and local officials. We want to especially thank Dr. Chris Kratochvil of UNMC for his work leading the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases. He has been immensely helpful in helping to guide the conference forward.

“Nebraska is getting closer to seeing our beloved Huskers take the field. We, and all of Husker Nation, very much look forward to our first away game on September 5 at Rutgers and our first home game the following week against Illinois.”

Big Ten Conference