LINCOLN – Big Ten teams, including the Huskers, will play conference-only football schedules for the 2020 season amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The Big Ten will be the first Power Five conference to announce major changes to its 2020 football schedule. Conference heads will reportedly announce later today that it will adopt a conference-only scheduling model for the 2020 college football season stemming from concerns of playing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach and ESPN reports.
The move to a conference-only model will eliminate several major nonconference showdowns scheduled for 2020, including Ohio State’s trip to Oregon in Week 2, the annual rivalry game between Iowa and Iowa State, and Michigan’s season opener at Washington.
It is unknown exactly how the Husker program will alter its schedules based on the league’s decision, though it is expected that they will play 10 conference games. The specific conference-only schedule that the Big Ten intends to play this fall will be announced at a later date.
Moving to a conference-only schedule helps alleviate many issues the pandemic creates as far as virus transmission from one region to another. Not only will teams be able to reduce long-distance travel, conferences will have an easier time implementing universal coronavirus testing standards.
It is unknown how other the other Power Five conferences intend to format their fall schedules. Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk, said Thursday that the SEC’s decision on a conference-only schedule could come at the end of July.
The Big Ten’s decision comes one day after the Ivy League announced that it will not hold intercollegiate sports in the fall but will reevaluate playing sports beginning Jan. 1, 2021.
Tune in to Sports Nightly on Big Dog 98.9 & 1340 (or streaming online) tonight beginning at 6PM to hear the Husker reaction and information pertaining to the conference’s announcement.
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