Actual Big Ten Football for 2020! Discuss....

[Hannibal]

Found via mgoblog:

Nico Collins is skipping the season.

Makes no sense to me -- if you decided to come back to play 12 games, why not play 8? Seriously. Makes no sense.

I wonder if Mayfield can still change his mind or if he's legit gone. If it's the latter, that could end up being the worst "early entry" decision in the history of college sports.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hope we get a schedule today. Would rather NOT be playing Maryland & Rutgers but assume they'll to complete division play.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The B12 has nothing but OU...the ACC has nothing but Clemson...

[Mike]

The B12 has nothing but OU...the ACC has nothing but Clemson...

And the Pac 12 has nobody...

[THE_WIZARD_]

I have heard you play all 6 division teams...and I hear UNL gets tOSU and Indiana...last I've heard...

[THE_WIZARD_]

And the Pac 12 has nobody...

Correct.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I have heard you play all 6 division teams...and I hear UNL gets tOSU and Indiana...last I've heard...

Oh good. I hope we get Nebraska and Wisconsin then. Wouldn't be surprised if they stick us with Purdue or Illinois though since those are short trips.

[Mike]

Here's the Big Ten medical protocols.

https://bigten.org/news/2020/9/16/th...3-24-2020.aspx

"Each institution will designate a Chief Infection Officer (CInO) who will oversee the collection and reporting of data for the Big Ten Conference. Team test positivity rate and population positivity rate thresholds will be used to determine recommendations for continuing practice and competition."

Here's the guy OSU tapped as CInO:

baghdad bob.jpeg

[Jeff Buchanan]

Why are waiting 6 weeks to start play? I'm not buying "it's better than nothing." I'm pretty sure all the BT's teams have been doing some kind of organized practices sans pads and contact. That's all that remains. Two weeks of that and, a week of game prep and start the season. That would be Saturday, October 10th. An earlier start gives the flexibility to adapt the schedule to the inevitable practice and game cancellations. Starting on the 24th almost insures failure and cancellation of the season with an out of, "at least we tried." I'm as certain as I can be that the "I told you so" crowd, that includes Schlissel and his band of pussies, in all of this is behind an unnecessarily delayed start to the season so they can have the last say. Fuck them.

[lineygoblue]

Why are waiting 6 weeks to start play? I'm not buying "it's better than nothing." I'm pretty sure all the BT's teams have been doing some kind of organized practices sans pads and contact. That's all that remains. Two weeks of that and, a week of game prep and start the season. That would be Saturday, October 10th. An earlier start gives the flexibility to adapt the schedule to the inevitable practice and game cancellations. Starting on the 24th almost insures failure and cancellation of the season with an out of, "at least we tried." I'm as certain as I can be that the "I told you so" crowd, that includes Schlissel and his band of pussies, in all of this is behind an unnecessarily delayed start to the season so they can have the last say. Fuck them.

It sure looks like that, doesn't it?

Harbaugh and Day both have said that they could be ready to go in 2-3 weeks. Instead the conference is going with an 'all or nothing' schedule that gives them no leeway at all?

Schlissel and Whitmer's hands are all over this decision.

[Mike]

Starting October 24th certainly isn't a balanced approach. On one hand they say they can't safely play for another 6 weeks, and on the other, they plan on playing 8 games in 8 weeks (plus a 9th for OSU and a patsy from the West).

[Jeff Buchanan]

The protocols are good..... you cannot get any better than daily testing. OTH, daily testing flies in the face of pro-sports teams that aren't doing that - more like 1-3X/week - and are having success with that approach. It's over-kill. Whatever.

The color coding thing and how they are going to act on the different scenarios is also good. I've seen that approach in multiple settings where large gatherings, e.g. restaurants, weddings, other social events might occur. Miami Dade Co. has posted a similar approach but that only goes into affect when Phase III is implemented. The Co. is now at Phase II, minus bars being open. The Cruise lines operating now in Europe and the ports that are allowing cruise ships to dock have this color code thing that allows or disallows certain actions.

None of this seemingly good stuff explains why teams cant start playing on October 10th. I hope someone is asking that question. Doubt it will be answered honestly. I agree with Linesman. This is a olive branch to Whitmer. They'er already playing HS football in MI, yes? I lost track. If so, the 10/24 start date makes no sense.

[Hannibal]

Just think -- if they had wanted to, they could have started a 7 game regular season on September 3 with a bye week between each game. October 24th is better than nothing but let's not forget how they did fuck it up at the beginning.

[lineygoblue]

They'er already playing HS football in MI, yes? I lost track. If so, the 10/24 start date makes no sense.

First game of the season for Michigan HS ball is this Friday.

This whole decision reeks of a "we-told-ya-so" scenario dreamed up by Whitmer and Schlissel. They're deliberately running the schedule with a all or nothing scenario that lets them shut it down any time they want.

Schlissel isn't exactly loved in AA right now. I read yesterday that he's facing an unheard of "no confidence" vote by the M Board today. Its unrelated to football, but still, he's not exactly beloved in all quarters. He may not be around much longer.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Oh wow, everyone is going to play a 9th game apparently. East #1 will play West #1 for the title on Dec 19, but East #2 will play West #2 and so on down the line.