Howe: Time Was Exactly What the Big Ten Needed for Fall Football

Sure we are going to watch because we are fans (Hawkeye Fans), but the disappointing thing to me is they gave into political pressure. They basically have put the precedent out there (now for the Big Ten Conference) that it is more important to make sure games are played then to play it safe and live to fight another day (season). Sure, there are safeguards (testing rates of over 7.5% that can suspend play for 7 days for example) but they could just could not drown out the voice in DC (and high ranking state officials). Hopefully they will not have to live to regret this decision if something tragic were to happen.
 
I think the new rapid testing capability and the dollars involved in NOT playing made the difference.

Interestingly, it is a NINE game schedule....8 regular season games and then EVERYONE plays on championship Saturday, if I am reading it correctly. Weird, but interesting. For example, if Iowa finishes 2nd in the West, it will play the 2nd place team from the East on December 19.
 
RobHowe said:
Rapid antigen testing.

Without that, B1G is still sidelined.
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I'm not completely sold on that. To be honest, I'm not sure what to really believe at this point. Football is being played and it at this point shows be be successful or fine. College, high school, NFL all playing.

I think they caved.

What I mean is say the SEC or ACC didn't play this last weekend, would the BIG announce their plan to play in a month, doubt it. If either the SEC or ACC didn't start like the BIG, the BIG wouldn't have announced to start, IMO. This even with this new rapid antigen testing.

The BIG was going to be made to look like a fool the more weeks that went by that the other conferences played and were successful. They finally listened to the parents and players instead of the 8 or so presidents against it. Mostly, this was the last weekend or chance to start and play the season and have a chance at the playoffs and NC, so $$$$$$$$$ probably played a large part. These universities/athletic departments are hemorrhaging at this point.
 
ChosenChildren said:
I think the new rapid testing capability and the dollars involved in NOT playing made the difference.

Interestingly, it is a NINE game schedule....8 regular season games and then EVERYONE plays on championship Saturday, if I am reading it correctly. Weird, but interesting. For example, if Iowa finishes 2nd in the West, it will play the 2nd place team from the East on December 19.
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If correct, this is kind of cool, IMO.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I'm not completely sold on that. To be honest, I'm not sure what to really believe at this point. Football is being played and it at this point shows be be successful or fine. College, high school, NFL all playing.

I think they caved.

What I mean is say the SEC or ACC didn't play this last weekend, would the BIG announce their plan to play in a month, doubt it. If either the SEC or ACC didn't start like the BIG, the BIG wouldn't have announced to start, IMO. This even with this new rapid antigen testing.

The BIG was going to be made to look like a fool the more weeks the other conferences played and were successful. They finally listened to the parents and players instead of the 8 or so presidents against it. Mostly, this was the last weekend or chance to start and play the season and have a chance at the playoffs and NC, so $$$$$$$$$ probably played a large part. These universities/athletic departments are hemorrhaging at this point.
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Football is being played. But to say everything is fine would be inaccurate. Arkansas State can't even field a team after two weeks of playing. Three Big 12 games were postponed last week. There are a lot of disruptions.

Without rapid antigen testing and the Ohio State study on Myocarditis the B1G would not be playing. Look at how stringent are the guidelines to play.

That's just my opinion, though. Plenty of people will view it as a league caving to public pressure and grabbing money as the main reasons for the return.
 
ChosenChildren said:
I think the new rapid testing capability and the dollars involved in NOT playing made the difference.

Interestingly, it is a NINE game schedule....8 regular season games and then EVERYONE plays on championship Saturday, if I am reading it correctly. Weird, but interesting. For example, if Iowa finishes 2nd in the West, it will play the 2nd place team from the East on December 19.
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So if we have several teams quarantined with The Germ, is it theoretically possible for say Iowa and Rutgers to meet in the putative Big Ten title game?
 
RobHowe said:
Football is being played. But to say everything is fine would be inaccurate. Arkansas State can't even field a team after two weeks of playing. Three Big 12 games were postponed last week. There are a lot of disruptions.

Without rapid antigen testing and the Ohio State study on Myocarditis the B1G would not be playing. Look at how stringent are the guidelines to play.

That's just my opinion, though. Plenty of people will view it as a league caving to public pressure and grabbing money as the main reasons for the return.
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Good points. I believe it could be a little of both, to be honest.
 


On a side note, 2,200 additional restaurants, bars and grills closed down and boarded up their windows because antigen testing showed 45% of population antigen positive. Rates will go so high because of this testing, football will end up being shut down, IMO.

Talk about shutting the country down.


I say this tongue and cheek. I acknowledge this is a great medical finding but that we have to be careful what we wish for. We have to be able and willing to deal with the collateral damage due to increasing testing rates.

Many players could end up being quarantined for at least a couple weeks. If enough of them are for one team at the same time, games could be cancelled.

I guess that's living with virus and better than nothing.
 
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ChosenChildren said:
I think the new rapid testing capability and the dollars involved in NOT playing made the difference.

Interestingly, it is a NINE game schedule....8 regular season games and then EVERYONE plays on championship Saturday, if I am reading it correctly. Weird, but interesting. For example, if Iowa finishes 2nd in the West, it will play the 2nd place team from the East on December 19.
Click to expand...

I have a hunch that champions week will include some flexibility to avoid rematches. So 2nd will play 2nd unless 2nd has already played 2nd. Then instead 2nd will play 3rd.
 
Maybe I am too cynical. I just think once the B1G realized that it wasn't a "all for one, one for all" when the other 3 conferences decided to push forward, they were going to play and play in the Fall.

The advanced testing played a factor, but it was a 20-25% factor.
 
trj said:
Maybe I am too cynical. I just think once the B1G realized that it wasn't a "all for one, one for all" when the other 3 conferences decided to push forward, they were going to play and play in the Fall.

The advanced testing played a factor, but it was a 20-25% factor.
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The advanced testing was the perfect way to step back in and try to save some face at the same time.
 
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