It wasn’t shocking, nor was it incomprehensible or indefensible. A conference-only schedule has long been mentioned as a potential option for the 2020 college football season. Still, the Big Ten’s announcement on Thursday for a conference-only schedule was a big one that impacted 50 FBS and FCS teams.
The news, first reported by The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach and later confirmed by the Big Ten, comes about seven weeks before the college football season is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Aug. 29. It was preceded by several smaller scheduling announcements (e.g. FCS teams canceling FBS road trip) but is the first to wipe out several games.
“I am very concerned about the season,” Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren told Yahoo! Sports. “I’m an optimistic person, but I am very concerned. We want to take one step at a time.”
This step eliminated 42 non-conference games (three apiece for each of the conference’s 14 teams), including several of the season’s most anticipated games, among them: Ohio State at Oregon, Penn State at Virginia Tech, Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin (at Lambeau Field), and Michigan at Washington. In addition to the 14 Big Ten teams losing games, another 36 out-of-conference teams will lose at least one game. Seven out-of-conference teams will lose two games.
Here’s the full list of canceled games:
Illinois
Sept. 4: vs. Illinois State
Sept. 12: vs. UConn
Sept. 19: vs. Bowling Green
Indiana
Sept. 12: vs. Western Kentucky
Sept. 19: vs. Ball State
Sept. 26: at UConn
Iowa
Sept. 5: vs. Northern Iowa
Sept. 12: vs. Iowa State
Sept. 26: vs. Northern Illinois
Maryland
Sept. 5: vs. Towson
Sept. 12: vs. Northern Illinois
Sept. 19: at West Virginia
Michigan
Sept. 5: at Washington
Sept. 12: vs. Ball State
Sept. 19: vs. Arkansas State
Michigan State
Sept. 12: at BYU
Sept. 19: vs. Toledo
Sept. 26: vs. Miami
Minnesota
Sept. 3: vs. FAU
Sept. 12: vs. Tennessee Tech
Sept. 26: vs. BYU
Nebraska
Sept. 12: vs. Central Michigan
Sept. 19: vs. South Dakota State
Sept. 26: vs. Cincinnati
Northwestern
Sept. 12: vs. Tulane
Sept. 19: vs. Central Michigan
Nov. 14: vs. Morgan State
Ohio State
Sept. 5: vs. Bowling Green
Sept. 12: at Oregon
Sept. 19: vs. Buffalo
Penn State
Sept. 5: vs. Kent State
Sept. 12: at Virginia Tech
Sept. 19: vs. San Jose State
Purdue
Sept. 12: vs. Memphis
Sept. 19: vs. Air Force
Sept. 26: at Boston College
Rutgers
Sept. 5: vs. Monmouth
Sept. 12: vs. Syracuse
Sept. 19: at Temple
Wisconsin
Sept. 12: vs. Southern Illinois
Sept. 19: vs. Appalachian State
Oct. 3: vs. Notre Dame (at Lambeau Field
