9/1/2020 football Edit

November? January? February? When will B1G begin? Even Trump wants to know

Tom Dienhart • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com, Associate Editor

Big Ten fans are eager for conference honchos to announce a plan for 2020-21. (AP)

The possibility of sitting at home while the SEC and other Power Five conferences play games this fall will be difficult for many in Big Ten country to stomach.

“That would be tough,” a league head coach told GoldandBlack.com. “That would be a very difficult thing to watch. No doubt.”

It may become a reality.

For now, there is no unity among the Power Five: Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, ACC and Big 12. While the Big Ten and Pac-12 have postponed their 2020 seasons—doing so on Aug. 11 before full-contact practices even began—the other three conferences are pushing ahead to play. The ACC will start in earnest Sept. 12, with the SEC and Big 12 cranking it up on Sept. 26.

“You’d like to get all the schools on the same page,” said the head coach. “That has to happen.”

Until then—if ever—the Big Ten is left trying to plot some type of a de facto season during the 2020-21 school year.

Even the commander-in-chief has gotten involved in trying to get the Big Ten to play, as President Trump had a conversation with Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren today. And the Big Ten issued a subsequent statement saying the league is "exhausting every resource to help student-athletes get back to playing the sports they love, at the appropriate time, in the safest and healthiest way possible."

Myriad plans seemingly are being considered, with starts pegged in November, January and February ... and there even has been chatter about an October beginning.

“If you look at it, by the end of this season, it'd be (winter season) very similar to spring ball, and you're talking about still having a four-month recovery,” said a Big Ten source. “So that the whole reason for this model is to do everything we possibly can to protect the ’21 season because what you don't want is, you don't want this one year that's a mess to turn into two years that’s a mess.”

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Another potential issue: Recruiting.

“But then you know the other problem you're gonna have is if the SEC and ACC and those schools play," said a Big Ten source. "And then we don't, and then we're playing this model. Then they're all out recruiting and we're not. There are so many implications to this. And the problem is, a lot of times the people that are making the decisions have no understanding of all the implications that come with the decisions.”

But first things first: When will the Big Ten season start? The idea of a November kickoff was floated last week, causing some to wonder: If you the Big Ten can start then, why not try to start in September?

A Thanksgiving-time start would allow for more games to be played, thus more money to be made from the Big Ten's TV partners. One model that gained traction in various reports last week included Big Ten teams playing 10 games with a late-November start. The season would end in late-February, capped by a Big Ten title game the first week of March.

A finish by late-February would allow players ample time to still prep for the NFL Draft, which runs April 29-May 1. It’s also worth noting that the NFL Combine typically is run in late-February. The NFL could move both the draft and combine to later dates to accommodate the Big Ten's late season, but it isn’t a given.

Another advantage to beginning in November: Teams would be working most of the season in a de facto bubble, since most Big Ten schools plan to send students home after Thanksgiving and not return until January. With no students around, it would seemingly make it easier for teams to avoid COVID-19 infection.

“I think as long as the other conferences have their seasons, I think that this (winter season) has a really good shot of working, yes I do,” said a Big Ten source. “Because of the fact that the kids will be sent home at that time of the year, it probably would create a better scenario from a campus-wide dynamic. It will be interesting to see how it works with scheduling and at that time of the year, you know, with the virus in the winter will definitely be a challenge.”

But an X-factor that could make playing much safer in coming months: The development of a saliva test. One is SalivaDirect. It's cheap, accurate and quick to turnaround. It could be a game-changer.

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Kirk Ferentz and Jeff Brohm have to hope the Big Ten plays football at some point in 2020-21. (AP)

A January start seems to be the model with the most potential. But, unlike a November beginning, a season that commences in January would likely mean just an eight-game schedule ... and less TV loot for a conference whose schools need a mega infusion of cash. Make no mistake about it: This is all about money.

Purdue coach Jeff Brohm authored a plan that featured eight games and included a late-February start and mid-April finish. Alas, not starting until late-February—February 27, to be exact, in Brohm’s plan—may be too late. Still, Brohm’s plan was cutting edge and helped start the conversation toward a solution for the Big Ten. The Boilermaker boss shared his plan with the nation on Aug. 13, two days after the Big Ten announced its postponement.

Now, almost three weeks since Brohm unveiled his nuanced report, the world waits on the Big Ten’s next move.

What will the plan be? And when will it be unveiled?

MORE:

• The Big Ten's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad August

• B1G source: Two winter football season options being discussed

• Winter football, domes, bulging rosters and a March Rose Bowl?

• Leading sports doctor on Big Ten postponement: 'I don't understand'

• B1G coaches rankled by fall practice model, but it could change in October

• B1G source: Winter season is 'all about preserving the '21 (fall) season'

• Healing begins in Big Ten, but discord still simmers amid postponement

• Big Ten letter explains reasons for postponement

• Bobinski hopeful for spring season