Two days after the Mid-American Conference canceled the fall season — including football — the Big Ten has followed the same path.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Big Ten voted to cancel the 2020 college football season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Dan Patrick, the presidents voted 12-2 to cancel the fall sports season. While Nebraska and Iowa voted to play the season, Michigan and Michigan State, universities that both have physicians as presidents, voted to end the season.

In addition, the Detroit Free Press reported that the Big Ten is preparing to announce its decision in conjuncture with the other Power Five conferences — the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Pac-12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference.

Several of the Big Ten schools rescheduled their practices or media availabilities originally set for Monday.

The decision came roughly a month after the Big Ten announced that “if the conference is able to participate in fall sports,” the conference would limit all competition to the Big Ten. Those changes limited the Big Ten football schedule to 10 games.

At the time, the Big Ten released a statement on its decision in regards to the safety of those involved in the season.

“We are facing uncertain and unprecedented times, and the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, game officials, and others associated with our sports programs and campuses remain our number one priority,” the statement read.

The Mid-American Conference’s decision to cancel fall sports came in part because of the financial burden of trying to maintain coronavirus protocols. The presidents of the 12 schools involved in the MAC are exploring the possibility of a spring season.

“The Council of Presidents unanimously voted to take this action with the health and safety of its student-athletes, coaches and communities as its top priority,” the MAC statement read. “It is the intention of the membership to provide competitive opportunities for the student-athletes in these sports during the spring semester of 2021.

“The MAC has begun formalizing plans for the 2021 spring semester. The Conference will continue to consult with its Medical Advisory Panel and will monitor developments surrounding the pandemic with state and local health officials, the CDC, WHO and governmental entities.”

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