Big Ten Football: Iowa, Nebraska Reportedly Voted to Play

The whirlwind that has surrounded Division I College Football continued in a strong way Sunday evening and leading into Monday morning, as commissioners from Power 5 conference held an emergency meeting Sunday before a slew of varied reactions from those involved.

This occurred after the Big Ten presidents conducted their regular-scheduled meeting on Saturday, with reports surfacing afterward that the plug is likely to be pulled on college football this fall. Commissioner Kevin Warren is also apparently in favor of a spring season.

Players and coaches around the nation then collectively began speaking out as part of a #WeWantToPlay movement.

Monday morning, Dan Patrick (with Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde on the show) reported that the Big Ten had an internal vote and members opted on not having a season through a 12-2 margin. Iowa and Nebraska were the only schools that voted to still play.

New Ohio State president Kristina Johnson, who was not on Saturday’s call, was reportedly briefed and then able to represent the Buckeyes on Sunday evening.

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, a former university president himself, then sent a letter to all Big Ten presidents Monday morning urging them to play this season.

“Here is the reality: Many of you think that football is safer than no football, but you also know that you will be blamed if there is football, whereas you can duck any blame if you cancel football,” Sasse emphatically said near the end.

It is also worth noting that Iowa (48,200) currently ranks 30th among state nationwide with the most documented COVID-19 cases per CDC data while Nebraska (28,200) is behind at 35th overall. They are the two lowest of any states with Big Ten institutions.

The news is especially frustrating to Ohio State players, many of whom have outwardly supported the university’s efforts to protect them and give them a safe environment in which to train.

“We can’t control many other things that are going on out there, but we do understand what we can control,” said sixth-year linebacker and captain Justin Hilliard. “We can’t have people testing positive for coronavirus so we’ve focusing on social distancing and staying healthy.”

Captain Josh Myers says that his “level of comfort in our safety is really high … There’s nothing more our coaches and staff can do to keep us safe. I personally am confident that we’re going to have a season,” and says he believes players should be able to make that choice. Justin Fields agrees with Myers that he feels very comfortable about his safety in the program.

“As you can see across the country, a lot of student-athletes are speaking out for different reasons,” said captain Jonathon Cooper. “I can only speak for myself with my own background. When it comes to me, I feel safe and feel good about everything that’s going on. Maybe across the country players don’t feel that way, but I can’t speak to them. Personally, we feel safe and confident with our leaders and our coaching staff with everything that’s going on.”

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