MADISON, Wis. – Big Ten officials are running a revised football schedule that can provide groups that start their season in early January.
Penn State’s sporting director Sandy Barbour said Monday at a Zoom meeting with reporters that the league could publish the revised 2020 schedule within a week or so.
Several school football players told the Journal Sentinel on Tuesday afternoon that Big Ten officials had to start the season as soon as possible.
The resolution would allow players to finish their season ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, recently scheduled for April 29 through May 1.
The Big Ten announced on August 11 that it was finishing all fall sports in the league due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but hoped to move the football season to the spring semester.
The parents of the Wisconsin football players were informed Tuesday of the plan and told that he was referring to the use of indoor facilities. They were also told that league officials still did not know how a shorter season would be the eligibility of players, especially seniors. A final resolution can be taken within a week.
Several indoor amenities that can be used through Big Ten for NFL teams in the play space. These are: Indianapolis (Colts), Minneapolis (Vikings) and Detroit (Lions). Other imaginable amenities are located in St. Louis and Syracuse.
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The last week of the 2020 NFL regular season is scheduled for January 3. The Colts and Lions are scheduled to play at home this weekend. The Vikings will have to play the Lions at Ford Field.
The existing NFL calendar includes wild games for Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10. Apartment matches will take place on Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17.
We don’t know how many games the Big Ten will watch to play. However, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez told reporters that athletic coaches and administrators are reluctant to ask players to play too many games at the time and then return in August for a full 2021 season.
“It’s two full seasons,” Alvarez said.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day has proposed an eight-game schedule that will open the first week of January and end the last week of February.
That would allow a big ten name game in the first week of March.
“I think starting the first week of January would be the way to proceed,” Day said. “This way, there is a safe separation between this season and the next.”
Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst and Alvarez also noted that it is imperative that the revised schedule come with the separation of the 2021 season as much as possible.