For nearly five months, college football has grappled with how to conduct a traditional season while acknowledging the uncertain degree of health and safety concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
If the league officially cancels play this coming season, the Big Ten may be the catalyst for every Power Five conference arriving at the same conclusion: Despite the best efforts to create a workable environment for competition, college football is an unfortunate casualty of COVID-19.
While awaiting the fate of the 2020 season, here's what we know about the state of play in the Bowl Subdivision.
The Power Five domino effect
The conference has been driving the conversation on playing amid COVID-19 since at least July, when the Big Ten’s decision to eliminate non-conference play was largely mirrored by the rest of the Power Five.