Big 12 Conference moving forward with plans for fall sports

Although the Big Ten and Pac-12 shut down fall sports, the Big 12 Board of Directors decided to join the ACC and SEC among Power 5 conferences with plans to proceed with the fall sports seasons.

That means football at West Virginia, for now. The first of nine conference football games is scheduled for Sept. 26. Each Big 12 team also will play one outside the conference, which for the Mountaineers is Sept. 12 against Eastern Kentucky.

“I’m encouraged,” WVU coach Neal Brown said Wednesday after a split-squad practice. “I think that we have a plan now, which at the end of the day that’s kind of all the players and the staff wanted.

“We’re going to open on Sept. 12. We don’t know what that looks like, but we do know that we will play Eastern Kentucky, and they are going to go through the same testing protocol, so it’s going to be a safe game.”

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, speaking to reporters Wednesday on a nation-wide conference call, said the decision to play was reached after regular meetings with health professionals and the other four Power 5 commissioners. He said he speaks with his fellow commissioners at least once a day.

He also said if doctors advise the Big 12 that it’s unsafe to go forward, “we will pivot that day.” He said that thinking would apply in training camp this month, during the season or before the championship game in December.

Bowlsby was asked what might happen if the ACC and SEC decide not to play, leaving the Big 12 all alone.

“De facto, we are in it together,” he said. “I don’t know that we’re locked at the hips. We’ll probably continue to talk to one another with regularity.”

Bowlsby added, “The biggest argument (for playing) is that nobody has told us that it’s poorly advised to go forward and doing what we are doing. If we get to the place where our doctors and scientists say, ‘You know what, you guys got two wheels off the tracks, and you’re headed for a train wreck,’ we will pivot that day.”

He said the conference has been told to “go forward, move slowly, make small adjustments and constantly be vigilant.”

He said health protocols have been put in place that range from testing the people holding the first-down chains on the field to disinfecting the replay room.

“The board continues to believe that the health and well-being of our student-athletes must guide all decisions,” board of directors chairman and TCU chancellor Victor Boschini said in a statement. “To that end, the board has consistently relied on the advice and counsel of top medical experts to determine the viability of available options.

“Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the board’s collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely and in concert with the best interests of their well-being.

“We remain vigilant in monitoring the trends and effects of covid-19 as we learn more about the virus. If at any point our scientists and doctors conclude that our institutions cannot provide a safe and appropriate environment for our participants, we will change course.”

Big 12 members have committed to increased covid-19 testing, with three tests per week — the last on Fridays — in what the conference is calling “high-contact” sports: football, volleyball and soccer.

Those who test positive must undergo several protocols, including an EKG, troponin blood test, echocardiogram and cardiac MRI. Nonconference football opponents will be subject to Big 12 testing protocols during the week leading up to games.

“The virus continues to evolve, and medical professionals are learning more with each passing week,” Bowlsby said in an earlier statement. “Opinions vary regarding the best path forward, as we’ve seen throughout higher education and our society overall, but we are comfortable in our institutions’ ability to provide a structured training environment, rigorous testing and surveillance, hospital-quality sanitation and mitigation practices that optimize the health and safety of our student-athletes.

“We believe all of this combines to create an ideal learning and training situation during this time of covid-19. Ultimately, our student-athletes have indicated their desire to compete in the sports they love this season, and it is up to all of us to deliver a safe, medically sound and structured academic and athletic environment for accomplishing that outcome.”

In the midst of the 10-game schedule, each Big 12 team will have a minimum of two off weeks and, potentially, a third late in the season. The Big 12 championship game tentatively is scheduled for Dec. 12 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

All nonconference games must be completed before Sept. 26. The matchups and stadium capacities will be announced by each conference member. “We all agree we are not going to have full stadiums,” Bowlsby said.

Competitions will begin after Sept. 1, but volleyball and soccer will be limited to conference opponents.