Big Ten football has been reinstated, after initially canceling the season due to COVID-19 concerns.
The conference confirmed in a statement Wednesday morning, September 16 that the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to have the football season start the weekend of Oct. 23-24. It will be an eight-game season for each team.
On the Big Ten Network, Wednesday, University of Illinois Coach Lovie Smith and University of Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz shared their optimism for the season and talked about the work that lies ahead.
"It's really hard to keep training when you don't know exactly when you're gonna play, and now that we have that of course we can get after it," commented Smith. "And our football team has been carrying on, getting stronger, bigger, faster all of that."
"We are rearing to go, we are hardly ready to go, that's a big concern I have right now," said Ferentz. "But just to get some clarity and to really be able to share with our players this morning that there is a start, a specific start to the season is really good news for everybody."
As part of the conference's plan, the Big Ten will require all student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily coronavirus antigen testing.