Pac-12 will be in the Big Ten in an attempt to play football this fall, the league announced Thursday, reversing a resolution taken in August to postpone winter or spring as soon as possible due to fitness disorders caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Pac-12 game will begin on November 6 with a seven-game schedule that includes championship games and culminates with the convention championship game on December 18 in the North and South divisions.
Before the match of the last weekend of the normal season, he will play five departmental matches and one match against an opponent of the opposing department.
The schedule will allow Pac-12 groups to be in the school football playoffs, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said.
“Our schools will have the opportunity to participate in the conversation, they will have every opportunity,” he said. “Surely we have the chance to have a team in the team for the playoffs. “
The seven-game schedule would be the shortest of any Bowl Subdivision convention held lately at the festival or with plans to resume play before winter. The Big Ten, which will be back on October 24, plans to play up to nine games. 10 games, all in convention, starting Saturday.
Pac-12 groups can begin education “with mandatory public physical fitness approvals,” the league said in a statement. Enthusiasts will not be allowed to play.
The resolution adopted following an assembly on Thursday of the Pac-12 CEO Group, which is composed of university rectors and rectors, was voted unanimously to resume play.
“The widespread view that the benefits of starting in the fall were much greater than starting in the winter,” said Oregon President Michael Schill, president of the league’s group of CEOs, “things have changed since we first addressed this issue. “
The addition of the Pac-12 puts the entire Power Five at the festival and leaves only two FBS leagues, MAC and Mountain West, which are still deciding whether to play this fall. Both meetings are expected to be before the end of the month.
With the inclusion of The Pac-12, 103 of the FBS systems are expected to play at least two games in 2020.
Still, the resolve to enroll in other leagues comes with questions for pac-12, especially if the groups have enough time to prepare after moving away from the team’s activities since August. This contrasts with the maximum of the Big Ten groups, which maintained a steady rate of education and strength education despite the education time limits provided by the NCAA.
Another fear is how the Pac-12 will work with existing state protocols that dictate the length of the crowd and the physical state of the county that can drastically replace as coronavirus instances increase.
For example, Thursday’s announcement came hours after Boulder County, Colorado issued an ordinance prohibiting meetings of all citizens over the age of 18 to 22 after an increase in COVID-19 cases, temporarily postponing Colorado’s ability to practice.
“We’re moving forward now, but we’re moving forward with our eyes closed,” Schill said.
If there are outbreaks of COVID-19 cases, Schill added, “We’ll avoid playing. “
Another is if the Pac-12 will start betting long enough to take into account the playoffs. Although not as deep with playoff contenders like the SEC or Big Ten, the Pac-12 had 3 groups in the Amway coaches’ preseason poll.
“We are very happy and appreciate today’s resolution through our presidents and chancellors to start the 2020 season,” Said Southern California coach Clay Helton. “We look forward to a season and have the opportunity to compete in championships. “
Starting a week early allows Big Ten groups to play up to nine games before celebrating their championship game on December 19, the calendar does not come with weeks to reschedule postponed games due to COVID-19 cases.
The playoff election committee will have to lastly choose all 4 groups for the national semi-finals and choose New Year’s Eve matchups at the Six Bowl on December 20, with the championship game scheduled for January 11.
Power Five meetings earn $66 million a year from the playoffs, regardless of which groups succeed in the semi-finals. The meetings contribute an additional $6 million to put a team in the playoff box and $4 million for the Six Bowl.
The Pac-12 followed Big Ten last month by postponing all fall competitions amid uncertainty through COVID-19, and specifically on how to kindly control and play athletes, coaches and staff.
One of the key points in the league goes back to an agreement developed with Quidel Corporation, a diagnostic company, which allowed Pac-12 to put into effect daily COVID-19 testing in close contact sports such as football.
“Since the beginning of this crisis, our purpose has been to stick to the science, knowledge and recommendations of our experts in public health and infectious diseases,” Scott said. “At the same time, we will continue to monitor situations and knowledge of fitness and be able to adapt as needed in the call of fitness for all. “
Several Pac-12 players, some organized into groups, have called for a reassessment of the initial resolution to postpone as other meetings began the normal season earlier this month.
On the same day, Big Ten announced its goal of restarting its season, a USC athlete organization sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom of California requesting their help in the “restrictions imposed through the state and local government of fitness in California that save us from resuming practices and contests. “”
In response, Newsom stated that there are no state directives that “prohibit the resumption of such games. “
The letter was approved through an organization of Arizona athletes, who sent a similar memorandum requesting Newsom’s help to restart the season, while the message was picked up on Twitter through players representing other Pac-12 programs.
“With frustration, we’ve seen other meetings and groups play, knowing that our medical criteria are as smart or better than theirs,” Oregon Quarterback Tyler Shough wrote on Twitter. “However, with the new immediate evidence, your main criterion for our and Oregon Medical Protocol; we think it’s for play. Laisse us play “
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