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Pres. Trump Pushing For Big Ten Fall Football, But B1G Officials Not Optimistic

President Donald Trump suggested today that the Big Ten is close to returning to a fall football season, but conference officials strongly disagreed.

This morning, Trump tweeted that he had held a conversation with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warrenand that the conference was “on the one yard line” with a decision to immediately start up football. ESPN reports that Trump told reporters the call was “very productive.”

“We’re pushing very hard. … I think they want to play, and the fans want to see it, and the players have a lot at stake, including possibly playing in the NFL,” Trump said. “We had a very good conversation, very productive, and maybe we’ll be very nicely surprised.”

But Big Ten officials offered media outlets a much different view.

“Nothing has changed,” one source told ESPN. “Nothing. We have to get all the medical questions answered before we can even bring back a plan to the presidents for approval.”

Yahoo Sports writer Pete Thamel wrote in a column today that his sources were even less optimistic.

“To say multiple sources denied the notion of the Big Ten playing immediately would not be strong enough. The sources heartily laughed at it,” Thamel wrote, saying Trump’s comments were intended to court votes in midwestern states.

The Big Ten postponed all fall sports amid the coronavirus pandemic. The August 11 decision made the Big Ten the first Power-5 conference to postpone all of its fall sports. At the time, the conference suggested that fall sports could potentially compete in the spring, if the pandemic improves.

More recently, ESPN reports that the Big Ten is considering several plans, with the earliest potential start date being late November. Warren doesn’t control the decision – that must be made, like the cancellation decision, by the presidents of the 14 Big Ten schools. No plan has yet been presented to university presidents.

Radio host Dan Patrick, who broke the news that the Big Ten and Pac-12 would be postponing, says the same source now tells him that Big Ten could be targeting October 10 as a start date, if certain safety measures can be met. That would be the latest date Big Ten football could begin and still be involved in the college football playoffs. But Patrick also says some schools may choose not to play even if the conference decides to start up in October.

The top division of college football is evenly split between conferences postponing fall sports (Big Ten, Pac-12, MAC, MWC) and conferences moving forward with fall sports (ACC, Big 12, SEC, Sun Belt). The AAC and Conference USA postponed all fall sports but football.

Elsewhere in the Big Ten:

Big Ten Postponed Fall Sports In 11-3 Vote, Per Yahoo

Nebraska football players sued the Big Ten over its decision, claiming the conference hadn’t followed its own procedures of holding an official vote for postponement. As that lawsuit moves forward, more information about the decision has come out. Yahoo Sports reports that the conference presidents voted 11-3 in favor of postponing.

Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State were the three who opposed postponing, according to Yahoo’s report. Earlier reports had suggested Iowa and Nebraska were the lone holdouts.

Michigan Cuts 21 Athletic Department Positions

The University of Michigan announced today that it would be eliminating 21 positions within its athletic department. That’s in addition to the school’s hiring freeze, which it says left 15 unfilled positions since early 2020.

Notably, Michigan cited a “potential revenue loss of $100 million.” That’s the same figure that Iowa cited in its decision to cut swimming & diving along with two other sports.

Purdue announced last week that its athletic director, head football coach, and head basketball coaches would take 20% salary reductions and donate $1 million collectively to the school’s More Than A Game campaign. That’s in an effort to offset what the school estimates could be a $50 million budget shortfall in Boilermaker Athletics.

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@JakeShell
4 years ago

This must pose quite the conundrum for many SwimSwam readers: What do I hate more….President Trump, or no Big Ten football and the subsequent risk for swimming & diving programs?

As for me: Swimming & Diving Programs > political tomfoolery

Corey
4 years ago

If only he had pushed this hard for people to wear masks and socially distance, maybe they would actually be able to train and compete safely by now.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Corey
4 years ago

Yeah. The only thing that’s “disappeared” is NCAA D1 sports.

Bubbles
Reply to  Corey
4 years ago

Social distancing started form the very beginning…………..remember the lock-down? Slow the spread (done)………..Wear masks (done)……………….what next? FEAR IS A POWERFUL SPELL.

Vic
Reply to  Bubbles
4 years ago

Really?
When asked by Fox News’ Chris Wallace whether he would consider instituting a mandate, Trump responded, “No, I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don’t believe in that, no.”

RUN-DMC
Reply to  Corey
4 years ago

A cloth mask allows 97% of airborne particles to pass through it.

Joel Lin
Reply to  RUN-DMC
4 years ago

No. Just no. A double layered cloth mask materially mitigates risks of public spread.

some studies have been done which suggest that certain types of materials & styles are ineffective, such as sunblock gaitors which are part spandex & pourous, so particles actually split & make spray transmission worse. But it is well established now that double layer cloth is effective.

ct swim fan
Reply to  RUN-DMC
4 years ago

total lie!

Woke Stasi
4 years ago

Thumbs up, Mr. President!
High school football will be played in Ohio this fall. The two pro football teams (Bengals, Browns) will also be playing this fall. But not the Buckeyes? It’s nuts.

Unknown Swimmer
Reply to  Woke Stasi
4 years ago

Seems like very different considerations would go into each of those levels…not sure why anyone would say it’s “nuts” to not play. At the very least it seems like you have to at least acknowledge that there is a medical risk that needs to be addressed right? Very likely that’s easier at the high school level than the college level.

DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

Quoted one of the more woke sportswriters in this whole thing. But not the person who broke the original closing news? Because that guy now has something new…

https://twitter.com/dpshow/status/1300875158018756611

Guerra
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
4 years ago

I agree. ESPN’s entire staff and Pete Thamel, from Yahoo, are definitely woke coronabros that wanted all of football canceled. I don’t understand it. How can you love any sport or have your livelihood depend on it and want it shut down? People have gotten sick in the head…

Guerra
4 years ago

At least Trump made an effort to reach out. Biden is hidden away in the basement because his coronabro handlers refuse to let him out in public to show how far gone his mental capacities are. Remember, the coronabros are the ones that shut football down in the Big 10.

HISWIMCOACH
4 years ago

Now you’re playing 4D chess

B1Guy!
4 years ago

Keep the B1G out of your mouth!

Vic
Reply to  B1Guy!
4 years ago

On the same day that Trump attempted to convince the country that he didn’t have a stroke… he also went off on a rambling diatribe about bags of soup. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely convinced.

Hank Monroe
Reply to  Vic
4 years ago

As convincing as Joe not able to read a teleprompter or form a coherent sentence?

Vic
Reply to  Hank Monroe
4 years ago

Trump’s Halting Walk Down Ramp Raises New Health Questions

The president also appeared to have trouble raising a glass of water to his mouth during a speech at West Point a day before he turned 74, the oldest a president has been in his first term.

B1Ggerguy!
Reply to  B1Guy!
4 years ago

We’d rather have president Trump fight to bring back football than have more B1G swim teams get cut 🤡

ct swim fan
Reply to  B1Ggerguy!
4 years ago

Then please have him tell the truth for once. They are not close to doing what he said he wanted.

Hank Monroe
Reply to  B1Ggerguy!
4 years ago

Not these guys. They would rather all the programs fold if it meant Trump might look good.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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