It sounds like we're going to have to wait at least a few more days for an answer from the Big Ten.
According to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune (who's typically as plugged in as anyone on Big Ten matters), the conference is not expected to vote on its plans for its postponed football season until this weekend “at the earliest,” with a Sunday or Monday vote possible.
Just learned re: timing of the B1G vote ... will be this weekend at the earliest ... Sun or Mon possible https://t.co/HBZmxYmhF7
— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) September 9, 2020
Many had speculated that the Big Ten would seek to vote on the fate of its football season by the end of this week, given that the conference is required to provide full documentation of its original vote and full conference bylaws to the Lancaster County District Court on Saturday in response to the lawsuit filed against the conference by eight Nebraska football players. Additionally, the conference will need to vote as soon as possible if there's any possibility of playing in mid-October, as teams would likely need at least four weeks of preparation leading up to their first games.
That said, it appears the conference will wait until at least the beginning of next week – perhaps allowing for time to see how the ACC and Big 12's first week of games goes, all while plans continued to be formulated by the Big Ten's Return to Competition Task Force – before making a decision on when its football season will begin.
University of Nebraska president Ted Carter – one of the three presidents who voted against the initial decision to postpone the season – said Wednesday during an interview with KLIN Radio that the task force is “putting together some plans that the presidents and chancellors will vote on very soon.”
“The fight is still on,” Carter said. “We feel it's safe to play here, that's been our theme, and we're still strong on that.”
The Big Ten said in a statement on Wednesday that it “will continue to work with the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C), as it has always done, to identify opportunities to resume competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”
That statement didn't provide any new information, but ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported Wednesday that he believes the timeline for the start of the fall season is moving up and that a late October start isn't out of the question.
Know most will be frustrated by the statement, but the tone here and in the response to the President's tweet indicates the B1G's timeline to return is moving up. Won't be as quick as many want, but late October isn't out of the question, from what I'm told. https://t.co/aLnKMDyMFW
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) September 9, 2020
