On Air Now
Liz Stark
Mon- Fri: 10:00 AM - 03:00 PM

Pac-12 Wants Big Ten to Compete, Citing New Rapid COVID Test as Breakthrough

LINCOLN – Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, in announcing a new daily COVID-19 testing partnership with a manufacturer of rapid test diagnostic machines, said he hoped his league and the Big Ten could “align” their fall football schedules so both could have the same postseason opportunity in the Rose Bowl.
The Pac-12, which on Aug. 11 announced its decision to postpone fall sports just hours after the Big Ten made its decision, will soon begin a daily rapid testing protocol with its student-athletes through Quidel’s Sofia 2 machine, which produces results for rapid COVID-19 antigen tests. Unlike PCR tests that, no matter how quickly the results can be returned, still need a lab to produce those results, the antigen tests can produce on-site results within minutes.
Scott called the development a “game-changer,” especially as it relates to contact tracing. If Pac-12 student-athletes are tested daily, receiving results within the hour, positive cases can be isolated, while their high-risk contacts can be traced within the day. Scott said in a virtual press conference that, when the Pac-12 made its decision in mid-August, he didn’t anticipate the rapid tests being available.
They are now — and the Pac-12 made a special deal with Quidel, which has been providing tests to individual teams, as well.
The public health decisions in California and Oregon especially keep the Pac-12 from having a firm plan that returns players to the field. The Big Ten, a potpourri of states with various health restrictions, has a Return to Competition Task Force that at least considered a plan that gets teams back on the field by Thanksgiving weekend. Various national reports for an Oct. 10 start date have been shot down by Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos, who said on multiple occasions that a mid-September date is likely for a revised schedule.
Scott said he and Warren have been in consistent contact with each other. They run the two Power Five football leagues that chose to postpone fall sports while the ACC, Big 12 and SEC forge ahead. The ACC and Big 12 begin play Sept. 12. The SEC starts its schedule Sept. 26.

Related Posts

Loading...