Jim Harbaugh tells Michigan football team to prepare for playing in October
In the latest ongoing saga of when will the Big Ten play, Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh has reportedly told his team to prepare to play in October.
No one seems to know when the Big Ten will play their football season, including the players, coaches, administration, fans and the media. First, it was thought they would try to play in the spring, then it changed to playing in domes for the winter months and then it moved up to Thanksgiving week.
The latest Big Ten football development comes out of Ann Arbor where Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh has told his team to prepare to play as early as October.
Phew. I’m exhausted with this whiplash of options. As relayed by Rainer Sabin of the Detroit Free-Press, “Michigan tackle Ryan Hayes said head coach Jim Harbaugh told the team yesterday to prepare for the possibility of playing in October.”
Big Ten football preparing for the possibility of playing in October
Harbaugh has advocated for a season all along, but now it feels like it’s more realistic.
Depending on when exactly in October the season could start, it may only be one week later than the SEC who starts their season on Sept. 26. The notion of a Thanksgiving start makes no sense for myriad reasons, but solely related to football, they’d be on the sidelines while the ACC, SEC and Big 12 are competing for the national championship while the Big Ten is playing in a blizzard and no title considerations.
But perhaps the season starts in on Oct. 3 and each team gets one open week during their 10-game schedule, which would allow for the Big Ten Championship Game played on Dec. 19, the same date as the ACC, SEC and Big 12 hold their games.
This would keep the Big Ten alive for a College Football Playoff berth with Selection Sunday on Dec. 20. If the Big Ten starts any later than Oct. 3, it could eliminate any chance of a national title. Hence, the urgency to try and figure this out as the clock ticks and the university presidents face political pressure from President Trump on top of the swarm of fans and parents of players publicly decrying the Big Ten’s decision and disclosure of their decision.
Despite what Harbaugh told his team, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd reports Big Ten presidents have no plan to meet to start a fall season and the notion of starting in October is ‘not happening.;
So the latest chapter of when will the Big Ten play appears to be in a holding pattern.
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