Big Ten Conference Cancels College Football, Fall Sports: Reports

ROSEMONT, IL — Leaders of Big Ten Conference universities decided Sunday to cancel their 2020 college football season and other fall sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple reports. School officials at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois reportedly voted against going ahead with the season, just as the president of Northern Illinois University had done a day earlier.

The University of Iowa and the University of Nebraska were the lone schools to vote in favor of playing, with presidents and chancellors of the other 12 schools voting against, radio host Dan Patrick said on his show Monday.

Big Ten officials are expected to announce the cancellation Tuesday, with some conference leaders hoping to postpone the season until the spring, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Last week, conference officials released a schedule that would have seen the first games played in the first week of September. By that point, at least a half-dozen Big Ten football teams had temporarily halted preseason training due to positive coronavirus tests. Contact practice had been due to begin Friday, but conference officials called it off.

"We understand there are many questions regarding how this impacts schedules, as well as the feasibility of proceeding forward with the season at all," the conference said in a statement Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Also on Saturday, the Mid-American Conference announced the cancellation of its fall sports seasons, becoming the first conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision to call off athletics following a unanimous vote of school leaders.