After days of speculation, the news is finally confirmed: Big Ten (and Michigan State) football is back!
The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday morning that the vote to reinstate the season passed unanimously and the season will start the weekend of October 23-24. The season was originally postponed back on August 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unanimous vote means that rumblings about Michigan State, Michigan, and Maryland opting out of such a restart were false and that we will be watching the Spartans play ball in October.
In order to accommodate the season, the Big Ten is adopting multiple new protocols to keep student-athletes safe during competition, including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening, and a heavy emphasis on data.
The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols and has voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020: https://t.co/b5yHShGb1D
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) September 16, 2020
From their statement:
The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/competition. The COP/C voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020. The decision was based on information presented by the Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force, a working group that was established by the COP/C and Commissioner Kevin Warren to ensure a collaborative and transparent process.
The Big Ten will require student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing. Test results must be completed and recorded prior to each practice or game. Student-athletes who test positive for the coronavirus through point of contact (POC) daily testing would require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the result of the POC test.
