Iowa Football Season Cancelled
Add it to the list of disappointments of 2020.
On Tuesday, the B1G announced that school presidents had met and decided to cancel collegiate fall sports, including B1G football.
There will be no season, no B1G championships, and no B1G tournaments.
Less than a week ago, the B1G announced the conference ONLY schedule. Then on Sunday evening Twitter started to buzz with word that school presidents of the B1G wanted conferences from the Power 5 to join in cancelling the 2020 football season.
Dan Patrick even announced a vote on Monday morning in regards to the B1G cancellation.
The vote was not on record but more to check where each school was leaning.
By Monday evening, there was a hope of postponing the B1G football season to the end of September.
And then the hammer fell today.
The B1G said the decision was based on multiple factors based on on the medical advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee.
Along with football, here is a list of other sports effected by the cancelation:
- Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
- Field Hockey
- Men's and Women's Soccer
- Women's Volleyball
"While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point," said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. "Everyone associated with the Big Ten Conference and its member institutions is committed to getting everyone back to competition as soon as it is safe to do so.”
READ the official Big Ten statement HERE
The B1G has not ruled out football in the Spring.
As far Winter sports are concerned-- the conference said that those decisions will continue to be evaluated. In a press release, the conference said, "The Big Ten Conference will continue to work with medical experts and governmental authorities to gather additional information, evaluate emerging data and technologies, and monitor developments regarding the pandemic to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes."
UPDATE: Now the PAC-12 has announced the cancellation of their Fall sports, as well. This will be the first time since 1943, that there will be less than 500 NCAA football games played in a season.
Iowa released a statement on the Big Tens decision today with head coach Kirk Ferentz saying:
“This is an extraordinarily disappointing day for everyone involved with Hawkeye football. While we respect the decision of the Big Ten, I want to thank University of Iowa president Bruce Harreld and Athletic Director Gary Barta for their spirited leadership as they worked to find a path for us to play this Fall. Sadly that was not the final decision. Our hope now is that our players will have the opportunity to compete in the Spring.
As a program, our focus from this day forward will be to come together to find a way to play if possible this Spring. When we get the chance, we will look forward to once again swarm down the tunnel onto the Kinnick Stadium field to challenge ourselves against the best programs in the country.”
BONUS EXTRA READ
Many times the question, or questions, have been asked about "what changed?" since the announcement of the conference only schedule.
Brady McCollough from the LA Times wrote an incredible piece about how the NCAA is trying to protect the amateurism of college sports. Meaning, the NCAA will take an economic hit in 2020 to protect their economic windfalls of the future.
BONUS VIDEO
Nebraska HC Scott Frost says Cornhuskers are prepared to play outside of B1G Conference.