Article #2

Big Ten Cancels Football Season, Now It’s Back!

On August 11^th, the Big Ten Conference issued a statement postponing the 2020-21 fall sports season with concerns of the health and safety of athletes within the conference due to COVID-19. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren made the announcement, also saying that the decision was a very tough one to make, but at the end of the day there was too much uncertainty regarding the virus at that time.

Fast forward about a month later, on September 16^th, the presidents and chancellors of each respective team within the Big Ten held a vote to return to competition within the Big Ten. That vote was unanimous in favor of resuming the Big Ten football season, and it now seems like the conference is more certain in regard to COVID-19.

The season will officially kick off on October 24^th, and will consist of 8 league games in the same number of weeks, and will end with a conference championship game on December 19^th. The conference championship date is a very big deal on a national scale. The College Football Playoff selection day takes place on December 20^th, which gives the winner of the conference a very good chance to compete for a championship on the national level.

After conducting a few interviews as well as looking at a national scale on social media, it seems as if most people have the same reaction to the announcement: They are just glad that the season is going to be played. As a diehard Nebraska fan myself, the general reaction on social media has been very positive towards the announcement. Even after the schedules for each team were announced, husker fans claimed they “could care less” whether they went 0-8 or 8-0, they are just excited to watch their favorite team play on Saturdays in 2020.

Adam Holtorf, a former offensive lineman at Kansas State University (and actually was recruited by Nebraska) thought that all conferences resuming play again is progress. He said that he is “glad to see that people are starting to get back to normal life, and a fall football season is a step forward in that aspect.” Holtorf also found humor in the entire situation, saying: “If I am being honest, it was funny seeing the national reaction to the season getting postponed,” but he is glad that they went back on what they said and decided to resume the season.

Current University of Nebraska-Lincoln and diehard Nebraska football fan, Caleb Mohnike was elated that the conference is resuming play, saying: “I was extremely happy with the decision to resume the season in the Big Ten. It would have been very unfortunate if they did not at least give it a shot.” I then went on to ask Caleb about what his thoughts were on allowing fans into the stadiums, and he answered saying: “As a student at UNL (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and a season ticket holder, I would obviously like to go to every game.” He is willing to not go to any game this year if it means the Huskers and the rest of the Big Ten are able to have a full season.

One of the most interesting quotes from an athletic perspective regarding the Big Ten coming back was from Collin Hill. Collin is an avid Iowa State fan, and does not really have any connection to the Big Ten, which made his interview even more interesting. He thought it was “very good for the schools, fans, but most importantly the players.” “Seeing other conferences playing football and having it go relatively smoothly shows that the Big Ten can do it as well.” Hill went on with the athlete perspective, saying “The players train and practice year-round, and they deserve to play just like the other conferences do.” I think people seemed to overlook the players when it came to making the initial decision to cancel the Big Ten Season. As we wait for games to resume October 24^th, we will soon see if the decision made was the right one.