6 Big Ten Teams Reportedly Against The Conference Playing Football This Fall: ‘They Simply Don’t Have Enough Teams’

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We have yet another Big Ten football update from the new insider of the conference, Dan Patrick, but this latest report isn’t necessarily good news.

Patrick has been on top of the Big Ten’s dramatic ride from the get-go. He was the first to report that the conference would be canceling football this Fall before the conference made its official announcement. Then, earlier last week, he reported that the Big Ten could be reversing course and targeting a possible start date of October 10. During his show on Tuesday, however, it seems like the idea of football being played this Fall may again be on the backburner.

Patrick explained that according to his source, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern, Maryland, and possibly Rutgers are “not going to play” this Fall essentially leaving the Big Ten with too few teams to put together a schedule. He also explained that some schools want football to begin in October while others want November and some don’t want to play football in 2020 at all.

With the SEC, ACC, and Big 12, along with other non-Power 5 conferences starting their football seasons this month, the Big Ten is simply running out of time to make a decision about this season if it wants to have a shot at competing for a national title. If the Big Ten holds off until late-November, for example, other conferences will already be a few weeks into their seasons.

If the six schools mentioned don’t elect to play this Fall, that means the conference would be left with just eight schools willing to hit the field. It doesn’t hurt the optimism levels seeing as how Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State, and Nebraska seem to be willing to play this Fall so, with the more influential teams willing to play, the chances of actually seeing Big Ten football this fall have to at least be above zero.