Reports: Big Ten schools vote to cancel fall football season

Member schools of the Big Ten Conference have voted to cancel the fall football season, due to ongoing concerns with the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports from multiple media outlets.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Big Ten releases football schedule; Ohio State vs. Michigan not on final weekend

A formal announcement on the decision is expected to be made Tuesday, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press.

The presidents of the member schools voted 12-2 Sunday to end the fall sports in the conference with only Nebraska and Iowa voting to play, Dan Patrick said on his radio show Monday.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Big Ten fall sports, including football, will drop non-conference games

According to Dan's source, 12 of the 14 Presidents from the Big 10 have voted against having a Fall College Football season. Iowa and Nebraska were the two that have been pushing to play.
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) August 10, 2020

Unnamed sources told The Free Press Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren prefers the conference to play a spring football season, however no final decision has been made.

The decision to vote to cancel the season comes just a week after the Big Ten announced their revised conference schedule that was scheduled to start Sept. 3, with Ohio State traveling to Illinois.

Reports of the vote and meetings Sunday night prompted multiple players from across the “Power 5″ conferences to post messages on their social media platforms urging administrators to continue with fall football plans.

Tweets with the tag #WeWantToPlay were posted by Buckeyes’ quarterback Justin Fields and other prominent players like Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds and others. The main, university affiliated, Ohio State football twitter account has also retweeted players posting their messages asking for a season to be played.

Fields and Lawrence also tweeted out what they are calling a united message on behalf of the players, demanding administrators allow football in the fall, but also give players the ability to opt out of the season, while while guaranteeing their eligibility.