Published Sep 16, 2020
Possibility of fall season building momentum in the Pac-12
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Matt Moreno  •  GOAZCATS
Senior Editor
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@MattRMoreno

The Big Ten Conference, the Pac-12's longtime Rose Bowl partner, has decided to reverse course and flip its decision to postpone fall football that was made back in August. The league is now a full-go for a football season that will begin in late October after leaders in that conference came to an agreement that it would be safe enough to return to action after weeks of pleading by athletic departments, coaches, players, parents and fans.

“From the onset of the pandemic, our highest priority has been the health and the safety of our students. The new medical protocols and standards put into place by the Big Ten Return To Competition Task Force were pivotal in the decision to move forward with sports in the conference,” said Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Northwestern University President, and Chair of the Return to Competition Task Force Steering Committee. “We appreciate the conference’s dedication to developing the necessary safety procedures for our students and the communities that embrace them.”

The decision leaves the Pac-12 as the only Power Five conference not set to try and play football this fall. The ACC and Big 12 seasons have already started and the SEC is set to begin its season later this month.

Naturally, the attention will now turn to the Pac-12 and whether or not it will be next to change course and play football this fall. A big step forward came earlier in the month when the conference announced its partnership to bring Quidel Corporation's Sofia 2 machines to each Pac-12 campus to allow for rapid-results antigen testing for COVID-19.

Commissioner Larry Scott called the breakthrough a "game-changer" for a return to competition. It should be noted that Arizona has been ahead of the curve with the Quidel tests already having been in use in UA's athletic department since the spring.

There are more hurdles to jump for the Pac-12 in its return-to-play plan since government health restrictions in California and Oregon mean half of the league's teams are have not been allowed to practice and prepare for any fall season.

“At this time, our universities in California and Oregon do not have approval from state or local public health officials to start contact practice,” Scott said in a statement released shortly after the Big Ten's announcement Wednesday. “We are hopeful that our new daily testing capability can help satisfy public health official approvals in California and Oregon to begin contact practice and competition.

"We are equally closely monitoring the devastating fires and air quality in our region at this time. We are eager for our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play this season, as soon as it can be done safely and in accordance with public health authority approvals.”

That led into some confusion Wednesday afternoon as California governor Gavin Newsom said current health guidelines in his state would not prevent college football teams from playing this fall, and he cited the confusion as being a "misrepresentation of the facts."

However, teams such as USC, UCLA, Cal and Stanford are currently not permitted to train or practice in groups larger than 12 people meaning it would be nearly impossible to practice under the current guidelines.

"There's nothing in the state guidelines that denies the Pac-12 from having conference games," Newsom said during a press conference Wednesday. "There's nothing in our guidelines the state put out that denies these games from occurring. We put out very, I thought, thoughtful guidelines, again in partnership with the NCAA about cohorting during workouts and practices.

"Now this manifests very differently depending on the sport. Basketball cohorting of up to 12 may be a little easier than football up to 12, but offensive teams, defensive teams are able to coordinate and practice and the like. So I want to make this crystal clear — nothing in the state guidelines deny the ability for the Pac-12 to resume. Quite the contrary.

"... I look forward to working as we have been in a constructive dialogue with the Pac-12 and NCAA on testing issues. Again, good progress in that space, and as it relates to cohorting, we are certainly willing to engage and have now engaged the Pac-12 in that discussion as well."

While Newsom wants to make it clear that teams can move forward and there is nothing in the state guidelines preventing that, there are still local county guidelines that present another hurdle for the college teams looking to get back to work in addition to figuring out how to practice in groups of players 12 or smaller.

Wednesday evening Jon Wilner, reporter for The Mercury News, reported both Los Angeles schools – USC and UCLA – have received clearance to begin practicing as soon as the Pac-12 approves it. Halloween has started to emerge as a likely start date for a Pac-12 season with early November being another possibility, which would be helped greatly by the schools in California and Oregon being able to begin practicing as soon as possible, as Wilner pointed out.

”The Pac-12 welcomes today's statements by Governor Newsom of California and Governor Brown of Oregon that state public health officials will allow for contact practice and return to competition, and that there are no state restrictions on our ability to play sports in light of our adherence to strict health and safety protocols and stringent testing requirements, including our recent, announced partnership with Ouidel which will enable daily rapid results testing," Scott said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon. "We appreciate Governor Newsom, and Governor Brown's support, the former of which is consistent with the very productive conversation that he and I had earlier today.

"Our California and Oregon universities will now each individually and immediate, reach out to their relevant county public health officials to seek clarification on what is required to achieve the same clearance to resume contact practice and competition. We are eager for our student-athletes to have the opportunity to play this season, as soon as it can be done safely and in accordance with public health authority approvals."

Newsom's comments and the responses throughout the day Wednesday come the day after several prominent USC players and other players around the league voiced their opinion in a letter to Newsom expressing their desire to return to the field and hoping to have restrictions loosened allowing them to play this season.

Arizona quarterback Grant Gunnell and other members of the team released a similar letter Wednesday afternoon penned by UA players with the hopes of urging the governor to allow teams to return to the field in California.

The Big Ten is moving forward, and like it did back in August the Pac-12 appears to be following suit but aligning the pieces to try and play football this fall. Wednesday brought plenty of confusion, but it is now looking more and more like teams in Arizona's conference will have an opportunity to play football sooner rather than later.

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