Big Ten cancels all fall sports, hopes to play football in the spring

August 11, 2020
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

There will be no fall football in Madison.

The Big Ten announced Tuesday that it had decided to cancel the fall season due to the continued uncertainty around the the coronavirus pandemic. It will mark the first time since 1888 that Wisconsin will not play a fall football season. The conference hopes to be able to play a season in the spring, though nothing is certain.

It’s not just football. All fall sports — men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and cross country — have been postponed.

The decision comes less than a week since the Big Ten revealed a revised conference schedule. That quick change left commissioner Kevin Warren to answer for what happened to change their minds.

“We always have to plan. We wanted to play ahead, plan for a possible season,” Warren said on Big Ten Network. “Made it very clear the season may not come to fruition. We felt it was important to plan and organize a schedule that if we were fortunate to play fall sports, especially football, that we would have a schedule in place. Six days is six days. I made it very clear also that this was a day-to-day situation.

“I just said from day one, I’m not a physician, but it was going to be very important that on a day-to-day basis we would listen, follow, understand, appreciate and embrace the advice from our medical experts. That’s what we’re doing here.

“There is too much uncertainty now for us to to feel comfortable to go forward and have fall sports in the Big Ten. We just have to constantly do the right thing from a medical standpoint that our student athletes have an environment both healthy and safe.”

Wisconsin released a joint statement from chancellor Rebecca Blank and athletic director Barry Alvarez on the decision.

“For many months, we had hoped that the return of fall collegiate sports might be an opportunity to restore some sense of normalcy and provide brighter moments for our university, our city and our state. Even so, today’s decision by the Big Ten to postpone the fall 2020 sports season is the correct one,” the statement read.

“It was made with the input of medical professionals and with the best interests of student-athletes, fans and staff at its core. Athletic Department staff have worked incredibly hard to create as safe an environment as possible for our teams to practice and prepare for the season, but there is simply too much unknown risk for us to proceed with the confidence we need to launch our sports seasons. At the end of the day, the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff is our top priority. Nothing is more important.”

A number of Wisconsin players took to Twitter to express their disappointment to the decision.

https://twitter.com/JackSanborn79/status/1293260549493600258

https://twitter.com/clay_cundiff10/status/1293263408666738694