Skull Session: Big Ten Might Not Cancel the Season Now After All, Jonathon Cooper's Leadership is Unmatched, and Ryan Day Says Ohio State Could Play Outside the Big Ten

By Kevin Harrish on August 11, 2020 at 4:59 am
the flag is flying in today's skull session.
172 Comments

Yesterday, basically:

Word of the Day: Internecine.

 THE HAIL MARY WORKED? When we all awoke yesterday, all signs pointed to the Big Ten canceling the football season with hopes of playing in the spring.

Then, pretty much everybody directly impacted by a potential cancelation got extremely pissed and publicly expressed that extremely pissedness.

And conference leadership seems to be listening.

I'll be honest, when I saw the #WeWantToPlay Tweets rolling in from players, the messages from parents and the statements and interviews from coaches, I really didn't think it would do much.

I was clearly very wrong – which is truly a delightful turn of events, in this case. We still might not end up with a college football season, but at least it seems much more likely that we give it a try for a few more weeks.

All of this was sparked by the Big Ten’s impending move to cancel its season. More than 24 hours after first reports published from ESPN, Yahoo Sports and SI of the Big Ten’s potential plans, the conference still hasn’t made an announcement and is now gripped in an internal strife that poured out into public Monday. From high-ranking politicians to the league’s own coaches, a variety of personas strongly voiced their support for a 2020 season, some of them specifically targeting the Big Ten and commissioner Kevin Warren.

“Kevin encountered a lot more blowback today than he thought he would,” says an industry source. “It may not change their position, but it’s at least slowed the train down. It may still end up at the same destination, but this has slowed them down.”

If the Big Ten decides not to cancel the fall season tomorrow, I'll consider that a completed Hail Mary touchdown to cut into The Very Bad Virus' late lead.

Now, we're gonna need an onside kick...

 LEADERSHIP PERSONIFIED. Leading a team of #teens and young adults during one of the most unique periods in modern human history can't be easy, but by all accounts, it seems like Jonathon Cooper was born to do this.

I'd feel bad for every player if the season were canceled, but Cooper would be at the top of that heartbreak list if he doesn't get to have his last ride. That dude's worked too hard for this.

 COULD GET CREATIVE. There's been some wild speculation that if the Big Ten cancels its season, Ohio State might try other avenues of playing some semblance of a season on its own.

Shit, we've even had current players and assistant coaches openly calling for the team to join the SEC if things go south (pun completely intended).

It sounds insane – and it probably is! – but based on Ryan Day's comments to ESPN yesterday, maybe it's also not completely out of the question?

If push comes to shove, it sounds like the Buckeyes wouldn't be the only school. Scott Frost said he thinks Nebraska would look for other options outside the Big Ten if the conference cancels its season.

Buckle up, these next few weeks are going to get wild.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Deer" by Manchester Orchestra.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A thirty-year-old corpse is discovered in the cellar of a €35m Paris mansion... The tragic physics of the deadly explosion in Beirut... A Meth-user who gouged out her own eyeballs gets prosthetics fitted... The National Park Service recommends not pushing your friend down in case of bear attack... Struggling Texas farmers thought hemp might save them, but the crop hasn’t yet delivered... When bugs crawl up the food chain... The story behind the Eiffel Tower's forgotten competitors... The "slam" of your car door is actually fake...

172 Comments

Ohio State Blows Out Indiana, 38-15, for Second Top-Five Win of Season

Josh Fryar

Prognosticating: Indiana

Dry Goods Contest
View 172 Comments