Big Ten Releases Updated Football Schedule
On July 9th, the Big Ten announced they will be playing only conference games for the 2020 football season. They were the first power conference to change how they would schedule games due to COVID-19.
Because of these changes, some major non-conference games were eliminated. Ohio State's trip to Oregon in Week 2, Iowa and Iowa State, Michigan's season opener at Washington, Wisconsin heading to Notre Dame and Michigan State taking on Miami.
Like every team, Iowa's schedule is completely different than the one you were looking at back in March. Not only the are the weeks different, but so are the opponents. Maryland has been added to the Big Ten schedule this year.
The Big Ten Championship will still take place on December 5th.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Big Ten conference commissioner Kevin Warren said:
“Issuing a schedule does not guarantee competition this fall will occur in the Big Ten conference. We felt collectively that this was the next logical and methodical step forward in our process to be able to, at least, put some planning in place for our fall sports season.”
In a statement from the University of Iowa:
“We continue to face uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and others associated with our sports programs remains our number one priority,” said Gary Barta, Henry B. and Patricia B. Tippie Director of Athletics Chair. “I am confident in the medical protocols established by the Big Ten Conference Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and Sports Medicine Committee, in addition to the continued oversight provided by our UI Hawkeye team physicians within the UIHC Department of Orthopedics and Epidemiology.
“The past few months have entailed numerous conversations between my conference colleagues, Commissioner Kevin Warren and our Big Ten presidents, as we have worked to navigate the challenges associated with this pandemic. We appreciate the continued patience and support from our donors, ticket holders, partners, and fans. Now that the football schedule has been announced, we will finalize our Kinnick Stadium seating plan and share that in the next few days. If we have the opportunity to play, we are excited about our challenging conference schedule and the five games in Kinnick Stadium.”
"As a program, we have been looking forward to this day since the decision to play a conference-only schedule was announced,” said UI head football coach Kirk Ferentz. “Knowing when our games are scheduled will allow us to prepare for what is ahead on the field and support our players’ academic schedules off the field.
“Our players have shown patience and dedication during the most recent period of conditioning and off-season workouts, and now we are excited to begin the process of preparing for a football season. We are continuing to closely monitor the health and safety of our players and staff and look forward to starting our season in Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 5.”
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