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The eyes of the college football world have been focused on the Big 12 for the past 24 hours, but the conference’s pivotal decision appears to have been made. According to multiple reports, the Big 12 is expected to announce plans to move forward with a fall college football season (for now, at least). SoonerScoop was the first to break the news.
Sources telling SoonerScoop's @CareyAMurdock and @Eddie_Rado Big 12 presidents will allow conference to move forward toward a season and a revised Big 12 schedule will be released after approval from AD's during tonight's meetings.
— SoonerScoop.com (@SoonerScoop) August 12, 2020
Source: The Big 12 Presidents are wrapping up their call. The league is going to continue to pursue playing this season. A schedule, which was already prepared, will be released in the near future. This confirms what our @rivals friends at @SoonerScoop reported.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 12, 2020
This comes on the heels of announcements of fall sports postponement from both the Big Ten and Pac-12. Meanwhile, the SEC and ACC are still planning their next moves, but it was a widely-held belief that the Big 12’s move was going to have a large impact on whether or not those leagues would move forward with football activities. It’s no secret that each wants to play football this fall, so having a third conference on board would certainly take a bit of pressure out the equation and make the call much easier.
According to Yahoo’s Pete Thamel, a large part of the Big 12’s plan moving forward will involve enhanced medical protocols that stress increased testing. It will also involve keeping a close eye on any potential cardiac issues associated with COVID-19.
Sources: Part of the eventual Big 12 announcement tonight will be enhanced medical protocols. This is expected to include "more testing" for COVID-19 and testing for cardiac issues if an athlete tests positive.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 12, 2020
There’s still plenty of uncertainty regarding a potential season for the Oklahoma Sooners, and the plug could still theoretically be pulled between now and mid-September. However, this gives us all a sorely-needed glimmer of hope, and plenty of people are understandably rejoicing.
— DeMarco Murray (@DeMarcoMurray) August 12, 2020
— Spencer Rattler (@SpencerRattler) August 12, 2020
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) August 12, 2020
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