How and why the Big 12 is giving football a go with enhanced testing, other protocols
The Big 12 made it official Wednesday: It’s proceeding with fall sports, including football.
Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the 10 schools in his conference, including Kansas and Kansas State, made the call after hearing from medical professionals, including some from the University of Kansas Medical Center, about the COVID-19 pandemic.
And from athletes.
“What we’ve heard from our student-athletes is they’d like to play, but they want to make sure it’s safe,” Bowlsby said.
Big 12 schools will test those student-athletes for COVID-19 three times per week in high contact sports such as football, volleyball and soccer.
If an athlete tests positive, return-to-play protocols will include an EKG, troponin blood test, echocardiogram and cardiac MRI.
The league said that Big 12 teams’ non-conference football opponents — each school can play one this season to complete a 10-game schedule — must also adhere to the Big 12’s standard testing protocols.
“It’s the belief of our doctors that we can put our student-athletes in a situation where they are less likely to be affected under supervision and surveillance and testing than they would if they were in the general population,” Bowlsby said.
The Big 12 joined the SEC and ACC in moving forward with plans for fall sports seasons. On Tuesday, the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced that they were opting out of fall sports, holding open the possibility of playing football in the spring.
Bowlsby said the major conferences are working with the NCAA on eligibility issues.
Next week, Bowlsby will participate in a conference call with College Football Playoff officials about holding the championship without participation from each conference.
But given the spread of the virus — there have been more than 5 million cases confirmed and 165,000 deaths in the U.S. through Tuesday — there’s no sense in speculating now about an event that would be held in early 2021.
“If anybody tells you that they can accurately forecast what’s going to happen with the virus, they’re delusional,” Bowlsby said. “But even acknowledging that, I feel good about where we are because we have good practices in place.
“Within the athletics facilities we can do a really good job, and I think a lot of the success of the teams going forward and how many potholes we fall into depends on whether or not young people can discipline themselves to no go to parties where there are hundreds of kids in close contact, not be in crowded restaurants. You can’t stop living your life but have to be smart about putting yourself in risky situations.”
Bowlsby said the conference hadn’t heard from Nebraska, the Big Ten program and former Big 12 member that was openly unhappy with its conference for shutting down. There was speculation that the Cornhuskers could be looking find new, non-conference football opponents for games this season, perhaps in the Big 12.