As rumors swirl about college football season, Big 12 will hear from medical advisors - The Dallas Morning News

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The future of this college football season will likely be decided in the next 48 hours -- and the Big 12 will have a role.

With the powerful and venerable Big Ten on the verge of canceling football this fall, the debate on the season seemed to be reaching critical mass with fault lines in clear view. The Mountain West became the second Football Bowl Subdivision conference to cancel it season, indicating it may explore spring football.

Even the White House got involved, as did U.S. senators. And Shaq.

Big Ten presidents and chancellors were meeting Monday night with more discussions reportedly planned for Tuesday. Their Pac-12 counterparts are expected to follow their lead Tuesday. The Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference each signaled they intend to go ahead with the season, for now.

That leaves the Big 12. The conference’s board of directors, the presidents or chancellors from the 10 member schools, will be meeting Tuesday night by phone to discuss what comes next. They’ll be joined by athletic directors and the conference’s medical advisors, including infectious disease experts.

”I just want the CEOs to be able to hear directly from the doctors,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a phone interview Monday.

Bowlsby declined to handicap how the discussion or any vote might go.

”That will be up to the board,” Bowlsby said. “I don’t have any expectations and I don’t know how each of them individually feels. That’s the point of the meeting, to coalesce around a set of ideas.”

There is more uncertainty than normal, especially among the conference’s two most powerful voices – Texas and Oklahoma.

Texas has an interim president in Jay Hartzell, although athletic director Chris Del Conte has publicly expressed positive views of COVID-19 in the ramp up to preseason camp. Oklahoma President Joe Harroz has only been on the job since May. As one college football industry source noted, by nature presidents are risk adverse and wary of decisions that could bring legal liability.

Already there is concern among conference and school advisors about myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle that could be associated with COVID-19 and have long-term implications.

Bowlsby said he expected the topic to be raised at Tuesday’s meeting.

”It’s a new wrinkle in all this,” Bowlsby said. “We’ll have experts on the phone and we expect them to express their opinions.”

Players across the country had mobilized and organized on social media late Sunday, embracing the hashtag WeWantToPlay as the season hung in the balance. Among the players embracing the message were Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer, Texas safety Caden Sterns and Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler. So did Texas A&M AD Ross Bjork.

”I speak on behalf of myself and our team,” Brewer tweeted, in a theme repeated by many players. “We trust our medical staff here at Baylor University, and we believe they’re going to put us in the best position possible to be safe.”

I speak on behalf of myself and our team. We trust our medical staff here at Baylor University, and we believe they are going to put us in the best position possible to be safe. #WeWantToPlay

— Charlie Brewer (@CBrewer16) August 10, 2020

Of course in a polarized country, the fate of college football turned into a political football.

President Donald Trump retweeted the attempt to organize players, adding: “The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled” with the hashtag.

He later added a second tweet: “Play College Football!”

Play College Football!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020

Bowlsby has seen the pleas from football players around the country, asking for an opportunity this fall.

He also is aware of that playing a season in the midst of a pandemic is a difficult call.

“You’re hearing from a lot of student athletes that they don’t want the season canceled, they want to play,” Bowlsby said.

“Of course they love the game and they want to play it. But it’s important that they play under a safe set of circumstances and they can participate without having to compromise long term health.

”If we can assure ourselves of that, we can keep moving forward. IF not, then I expect that our medical advisers and consultants and scientists will tell us that.”

So far, Bowlsby said, the medical experts have not told the Big 12 to stop.Beyond the omnipresent health concerns are huge financial repercussions of a school year without college football – with no gate revenue, TV dollars and undoubtedly a major hit to donations.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez has estimated his school could lose $100 million in revenue. At one point, Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard suggested it would be “Ice Age time” financially without college football. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey tweeted about his conference’s stance after a meeting of president’s Monday.

The short version: the SEC isn’t done yet.Wrote Sankey: “Best advice I’ve received since COVID-19: ‘Be patient. Take time when making decisions. This is all new & you’ll gain better information each day.’

“SEC has been deliberate at each step since March...slowed return to practice...delayed 1st game to respect start of fall semester..

”...Developed testing protocols...We know concerns remain. We have never had a FB season in a COVID-19 environment. Can we play? I don’t know. We haven’t stopped trying. We support, educate and care for student-athletes every day, and will continue to do so...every day”

The Big Ten was the subject of conflicting news accounts throughout the day about whether presidents had already canceled the season.

Several high profile football coaches, including Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Nebraska’s Scott Frost and Penn State’s James Franklin, called for the season to be played.

In a bizarre turn, Frost even suggested that Nebraska, which left the Big 12 after the 2010 season to join the Big Ten as part of a major realignment, may look at jumping ship again.”We want to play a Big Ten schedule,” Frost said.

“I hope that’s what happens. … We want to play no matter who it is or where it is. We’ll see how those chips fall. We certainly hope it’s in the Big Ten. And, if it isn’t, I think we’re prepared to look for other options.”

If the Big Ten and the Pac-12 do decide to shut down and the SEC and ACC try to move ahead, it’s possible the Big 12 might be the deciding voice among the power conferences.

During his time as Stanford’s AD, Bowlsby became acquainted with former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Stanford alum as an undergraduate and a famous judicial swing vote.

Could the Big 12 be a swing vote?

”Well, I guess we could,” Bowlsby said, “but since there isn’t any decision that requires all of us to vote one direction or another, I wouldn’t characterize it as a swing vote. I don’t have any idea how the other leagues are going to arrive at their decisions.

“But we’re going to listen and do what’s best for our student-athletes.”

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