As has been the case for the last month, the Big Ten seems to be a step ahead of the Pac-12 in its push to return to the football field.
During a Tuesday morning press conference, University of Nebraska president Ted Carter was caught on a hot mic saying that an announcement was in store for Tuesday night.
“We’re getting ready to announce the Huskers and Big Ten football tonight,” Carter was heard saying before his press conference.
The expected announcement comes shortly after a weekend filled with meetings regarding the viability of a return to play. On Saturday, a group of Big Ten chancellors and presidents talked about a potential return. On Sunday, all presidents and chancellors were included, as the medical, TV and scheduling subcommittees presented their plans.
ESPN reported that no vote on a return to play was taken over the weekend, but The Mercury News’ Jon Wilner reported Tuesday that a vote was held Monday night.
Oct. 17 has been a rumored start date, but we won’t know when exactly the Big Ten intends to play until it makes an announcement.
If the Big Ten voted in favor of starting the season, the Pac-12 would be left as the only Power 5 conference without a return date for football.
In early August, the Pac-12 announced that it would postpone all athletic competitions until Jan. 1, 2021, but there is reason to believe that the conference could play sooner than it said.
The conference partnered with Quidel, one of the leaders in creating rapid COVID-19 tests. By the end of September, every Pac-12 school should be capable of testing every student-athlete daily and getting results in 15 minutes. After announcing the partnership, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said that the schools are receiving access to the tests eight weeks earlier than was anticipated when the conference decided to cancel competitions.
Access to testing is reportedly one of the key reasons that the Big Ten may feel safe moving forward with a football season. The Big Ten doesn’t have a testing partner but The Wall Street Journal reported that the conference is in talks with a handful of companies. President Donald Trump also told Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren that the federal government may supply tests to the conference, according to Letterman Row’s Austin Ward.
The Pac-12 is still trailing the Big Ten in one key area though: politics.
Laws in California and Oregon would prevent teams located in those states from practicing because of the lack of social distancing. California made exceptions for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the NFL, so the four California schools in the Pac-12 could be able to work out a deal. The testing would certainly help their case.
The potential Big Ten announcement Tuesday night could turn the heat up on the Pac-12 to find a way to trudge forward. Right now, the Pac-12’s most aggressive plan of attack would allow football to return in mid- to late-November, according to ESPN
