Big Ten Won't Progress to Padded Football Practices, Fall Season Now in Question

The Big Ten announced Saturday that all of its football programs "will remain in the first two days of the acclimatization period in football (i.e., helmets shall be the only piece of protective equipment student-athletes may wear)." 

According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports and Pat Forde of SI.com, that could be the first step in the conference—and potentially other conferences around college football—canceling the 2020 season or pushing it back to the spring amid the COVID-19 pandemic:

Another source told Brett McMurphy of Stadium that the college football season was "done":

That comes after the MAC formally postponed all fall sports until the spring on Saturday:

It isn't hard to envision a scenario where other major conferences follow suit. A growing list of prominent players have already opted out for the season. And if the conferences try to hold the season in the spring, even more potential draft picks may drop out, instead beginning preparations for the 2021 NFL draft, currently set for April. 

Scheduling remains a major question mark, especially for the Big Ten after it announced it wouldn't be allowing teams to move into fully padded practices. The conference noted in its statement:

"We understand there are many questions regarding how this impacts schedules, as well as the feasibility of proceeding forward with the season at all. As we have consistently stated, we will continue to evaluate daily, while relying on our medical experts, to make the best decisions possible for the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes."

David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press additionally reported that two sources told him that "Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren preferred a spring football season, although no decision has been made."

Even if the Big Ten doesn't fully follow the MAC's lead, it's already clear that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to be a major storyline in the college football season.