Ohio State President 'Very Hopeful' Big Ten Will Play Football in Fall

At least one prominent person with ties to the Big Ten is optimistic the conference will play football in the fall. 

Speaking to Columbus, Ohio's local NBC affiliate, Ohio State president Dr. Kristina Johnson said she is "very hopeful" a fall season will happen:

"We want to make sure our athletes get a shot because they've worked really hard and they deserve a shot to play. At the same time, we want to make sure that they're safe, so we're doing our work, we'll come back and I'm very hopeful that we'll be playing football this fall. ... If we all do our part, wear a mask, stay six feet apart, wash our hands then you know I think we've got the procedures in place to go forward."

In the time since the Big Ten's Aug. 11 announcement that it was postponing fall sports, there has been an ongoing debate involving the people running the conference and those who want to see football played. 

The most recent development came Tuesday when President Donald Trump tweeted he had a "productive conversation" with Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren "about immediately starting up Big Ten football."

The Big Ten issued a statement about Warren's conversation with Trump, via 247Sports' Garrett Stepien:

"On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, Commissioner Warren and the President had a productive conversation.

"The Big Ten Conference and its Return to Competition Task Force, on behalf of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C), are exhausting every resource to help student athletes get back to playing the sports they love, at the appropriate time, in the safest and healthiest way possible."

Per The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach, one Big Ten athletic director said the conference "wants to find a way to play as soon as possible but to also avoid another false start" like when it released an adjusted schedule featuring only intraconference games. 

"The issues that caused the postponement have to be resolved to the [Big Ten] presidents' satisfaction," the athletic director told Auerbach.

The Big Ten football season was supposed to begin Sept. 5, with every team scheduled to play 10 regular-season games, leading into the conference title game on Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. 

As things stand, the Big Ten and Pac-12 are the only Power Five conferences not scheduled to play football in the fall. The ACC will open the nonconference slate Sept. 10 when Miami hosts UAB. The Big 12 will begin Sept. 11, and the SEC will open play on Sept. 26.