Oklahoma football: Big 12 still favors playing football in the fall

The Big 12 not only holds the key for Oklahoma football in the fall, but also likely whether there will be college football of any kind this fall.

With the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences already opting out of playing football this fall, all eyes the past 24 hours have been on the Big 12 and what would come out of Tuesday’s meeting of that conference’s meeting of the board of directors.

The Big 12 decided to stay the course on its plans to pursue all fall sports, including football, for its member schools.

Many felt that the Big 12 could have been the deciding vote on whether there would be college football in the fall. If the Big 12 decided at the meeting on Tuesday not to play football in the fall, making it three Power Five conferences electing not to play football this calendar year, the pressure could have become too great for the other remaining Power Five leagues (i.e., the ACC and the SEC) to remain committed to playing in the fall.

In a statement released by the Big 12 on Wednesday, Big 12 board chairman and TCU chancellor Victor Boschini said:

"“Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the board’s collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely and in the best interests of their well being."

“We remain vigilant in monitoring the trends and effects of COVID-19,” he added, and “if at any point our scientists and doctors conclude that our institutions cannot provide a safe and appropriate environment for our participants, we will change course.”

“Ultimately our student-athletes have indicated their desire to compete in the sports they love this season. It is up to us to deliver a safe, medically sound and structured academic and athletic environment for accomplishing that outcome.” — Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday that Big 12 officials have been discussing plans and ways to operate safely in a COVID-19 environment for almost five months now. They’ve had ongoing consultation with some of the top medical and scientific experts in the field of infectious diseases and also had regular conversations with the athletic directors, the coaches of their member schools and student-athletes themselves.

The virus continues to evolve, and we’ve remained flexible with the changing conditions. “What was golden a month ago (in what we know about COVID-19) is garbage today,” the Big 12 commissioner said.

The Big 12 has taken things slowly and deliberately in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, moving one foot in front of the other as the conference has learned more about COVID-19, and the board feels comfortable with where we are at this point in time and in the belief that we have the right plans and protective measures in place to safely play football in the fall.

The Big 12 announced enhanced plans to conduct three COVID tests per week. Return to play procedures include EKGs, blood tests, echocardiograms and cardiac MRIs. The latter coming following reports of myocarditis as a post-COVID complication in large individuals, which is clearly a physical characteristic of many football players.

“Opinions vary regarding the best path forward, as we’ve seen in higher education and our society overall,” Bowlsby said in the statement released by the Big 12 headquarters, “but we are comfortable in our institutions’ ability to provide a structured training environment, rigorous testing and surveillance, hospital-quality sanitation and mitigation practices that optimize the health and safety of our student-athletes.”

Along with this week’s announcement that the Big 12 plans to remain open for business, including college football, in the fall, the conference released a revised 2020 football schedule.

Under a plus-one scheduling model, the Big 12 previously announced that each school will play nine conference games and one game, prior to the start of the conference season, at home against an opponent from outside the Big 12.

The conference season will begin on Sept. 26. Oklahoma will begin conference playing hosting Kansas State.