Report: Big Ten could move to cancel fall sports

One of the major college conferences could be inching close to canceling fall sports, meaning the 2020 football season would either be nixed or postponed until the spring.

Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports reports that top officials from the Big Ten are expected to have a virtual meeting on Sunday night to discuss the future of the football season. They also held a call on Saturday, and Thamel says there is “momentum at the presidential level to cancel fall sports.”

The Big Ten has already announced that it will hold a conference-only football schedule, but schools were recently informed that there is a chance the season will not begin in the fall. Playing a conference-only schedule would allow the Big Ten to move its season to the spring even if other major conferences still played in the fall, though it would increase the probability of other conferences wanting to follow the same path.

Other reports have indicated that all conferences are expected to cancel or postpone fall sports. SI’s Pat Forde was told by a source on Sunday that “college football is going to come to a complete stop” in the next 72 hours. Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio reports that the Big Ten commissioner informed the SEC on Sunday that they will announce the cancelation of fall sports by Tuesday, with the hope being that all conferences will follow suit.

Players from the Pac-12 met with conference officials on Friday to discuss health protocols and other issues surrounding the start of the season, and it does not sound like it went well. If college football ultimately is postponed until the spring, the NFL is reportedly prepared to make a major scheduling change as well.