The Big Ten cancels all non-conference games for fall sports teams

Photo: Ryan Cole/Impact

Nathan Stearns, Football Beat Reporter
July 9, 2020

EAST LANSING-  A mere 24 hours after the Ivy League decided to postpone all fall sports until further notice, the Big Ten became the first major conference to announce that it is canceling all scheduled non-conference games for all fall varsity sports teams, according to multiple reports. 

 

MSU AD Bill Beekman issued a statement shortly after the decision was announced that mentioned how “the health, safety, and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans remains our number one priority.”

According to Beekman, even though more important decisions are looming on the horizon, Michigan State is “looking foward to continuing to work with the Big Ten Conference and the member institutions in hoping to be able to provide our student-athletes with the best possible experience.”

Under the new proposed regulations set forth by the conference, only scheduled conference games would be permitted to continue as originally scheduled. For MSU football, this means that previously scheduled games against Miami (FL), BYU and Toledo will be canceled.

According to Heather Dinich and Mark Schlabach of ESPN, there is overwhelming support for a 10-game conference only season amongst university executives and athletic directors.

With the decision, notable non-conference contests such as Michigan at Washington, Ohio State at Oregon and Wisconsin against Notre Dame will be scrapped.

Since a standard college football regular season is 12 games, it remains to be seen how this new proposal will affect the six-win bowl requirement for teams. The College Football Playoff format will also most certainly be affected by such a massive change to the schedule of a major conference.