Big Ten and Pac-12 expected to announce cancellation of their football seasons this week
Yahoo Sports College Reporter Pete Thamel explains how the Big Ten and the Pac-12 plan to cancel their seasons, what that might mean for other conferences and how the #WeWantToPlay movement from Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence could affect the future of college football.
Video Transcript
PETE THAMEL: This is Pete Thamel, college football reporter for Yahoo Sports. College football awakens this week to one of the most tumultuous moments in recent history. The Big Ten presidents met Sunday night, and that league is on the cusp of canceling the fall football season. Big 10 presidents have a near majority to move on with what the league has really wanted to do all along-- end fall sports this fall for concerns over health and safety.
From there, the Pac-12 is expected to be aligned with them. Their presidents met last Tuesday. There was some sentiment to pull the season then, as the California schools in the Pac-12 have even had trouble getting on the field to practice because of then state and now local restrictions. After the Pac-12, it'll be interesting to see who follows along. It would be surprising if a majority of the conferences haven't announced that they've ended play for the fall seasons by the end of this week.
But there has been a surprising development. Late on Sunday night, or maybe even early on Monday morning, a group of college football players banded together with a hashtag #WeWantToPlay. And they've made it very clear that they want to make a push to take part in this 2020 season. It was led by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Whether this is just a social media movement or whether ends up with something more significant-- tangible change in the immediate or potentially some kind of players association in the long term-- the fact that college athletes are harnessing their collective power is unprecedented in an important moment for the sport.
As college football slowly collapses this week, eyes will start on the Big Ten and move elsewhere. Tuesday is expected to be a seminal day for the sport. But as we saw Sunday night, surprises can emerge. This is Pete Thamel, college football reporter for Yahoo Sports.