The Big Ten Conference has decided to postpone its 2020-21 football season, along with other fall sports, citing concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. collegiate athletic conference said on Tuesday.
The postponement impacts football, men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball. The conference said it would “continue to evaluate a number of options regarding these sports, including the possibility of competition in the spring” with winter and spring sports also being “evaluated.”
The Big Ten, which includes powerhouses Ohio State University and the University of Michigan, is one of the five wealthiest conferences in U.S. college football, along with the Pac-12, Southeastern, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast.
The announcement followed several reports that the “Power Five” conferences had met to discuss the viability of a 2020 football season.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Frank Pingue; Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)