There is no quick motion for the Big 12 Conference to end the fall 2020 football season, Commissioner Bob Bowlsby told the Des Moines Register in a phone call Sunday night.
“I’ve been literally in dozens of calls with doctors and scientists, and no one has told us to stop,” Bowlsby said after a regular assembly of commissioners at the Power Five conference. We will continue to check to move forward, although it would be less than direct to stay here and not go up that the last 30 days have not gone as we wish.
“This must be taken into account in the decision-making process. We didn’t make any progress, but no one told us to avoid it.”
The Mid-American Conference, the first FBS convention to cancel the fall football season of 2020.
“It’s something we’re aware of,” Bowlsby said when asked what effect it could have on the resolution when the 12 athletics managers and presidents meet Tuesday. “At the end of the day, whatever resolution you take, it will be theirs.”
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There was a hypothesis over the weekend that the Big Ten and Pac-12 meetings were about to end autumn football and advance in the spring. What do you see or hear the big 12 before making the decision to stay with the fall or push toward spring?
“I don’t know what we have to do with anything,” Bowlsby said. “We just want to pay attention to our doctors and scientists. At the end of the day, we’re going to do whatever’s most productive for our league.”
Many school football players, in addition to Clemson’s star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, wrote on social media on Sunday that they wanted to play this fall.
“That means something to me, because I want to play, too,” Bowlsby said. “I think we all want to play. It’s just a matter of if we can play safely. Can we ensure people that are participating, that there are no long-term effects from the infection?
“Priority is what it has been. It’s about getting other people to participate safely and without short- or long-term complications.”
When asked about the nature of verbal exchange at this time of week, Bowlsby replied:
“I hope we keep talking about football, in the fall,” he said. “I hope we prepare for the football season.”