Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren was put in a corner in his first year on the job, and with that came the impossible choice.
The Big Ten made the right decision on Tuesday to cancel college football for the fall; the conference just went about it in the wrong way. And that is what will be remembered most in the long term if the conference's Southern siblings in the ACC and SEC successfully carry out their plans to play football in the fall.
Let's start with what Warren and the Big Ten presidents got right: The decision to postpone the season is the safest one, given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The Big Ten features several top-25 university hospitals, and it is their responsibility to protect the student-athletes.
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"The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward," Warren said in a statement. "As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall."
That might be the template for other Power 5 conferences to follow if and when they cancel their respective seasons, which is a likely scenario. You can't fault Warren and the schools for following science-based advice.
But the Big Ten's process in delivering that news was anything but sound.
If the conference knew this was coming, then it should have just made the decision right away — tear the Band-Aid off instead of slowly peeling it off, please. The Mid-American Conference did that Saturday and has moved on.
The trial balloon was deflated and destroyed on Monday. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, the loudest voice in the conference, posted an Excel document with the Wolverines' case to play. Ohio State coach Ryan Day, the coach of the most successful team in the conference, made his case on ESPN. Penn State coach James Franklin was involved, too. It was a rare moment when the Big Ten East beasts were unified, all against the conference's pending decision.
Nebraska took the next step. Scott Frost said in his news conference that the Huskers plan on seeking "other options." It will be interesting to see whether they do. Judging by Nebraska's statement after the decision, that might be the case.
Nebraska's response to today's decision. #huskers pic.twitter.com/xsjOSQni1y
— Sam McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) August 11, 2020
Now, the Cornhuskers are talking about playing opponents within a 500-mile radius; Ohio State wants to play in the ACC. Who knows what Harbaugh will come up with at Michigan? #WeWantToPlay was trampled on.
Social media predictably mocked the Big Ten with a meme ripped off from "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Conference discussions leading-up to the cancellation of the 2020 college football season... pic.twitter.com/fN7CPGpxKB
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) August 10, 2020
MORE: College football cancellations, explained: What to know about COVID-19 and what's next for 2020
That speaks to the raw, Twitter-fed emotions from fan bases being told they won't have their Saturday traditions in the Rust Belt and Heartland.
The Big Ten gave detractors every reason to rip this decision.
Why be the first to go to a conference-only model? The Big Ten was the trend-setter with that decision, and it was the right call. It just exposed the disconnect with the other four Power 5 conferences, which should have worked together on a synchronized schedule months ago.
Why release a schedule that had the first game on Sept. 3? Nobody thought the season would start on Labor Day weekend. The SEC hasn't released its schedule — it only provided opponents and a Sept. 26 start date. Every Power 5 conference should have set a late September or early October start date to give everyone as much time as possible to make an informed decision.
Why not take that "deep breath" like Day suggested on Monday — even if it was the last breath? Wait until the last possible minute. Ohio State had a national championship-caliber team with a Heisman Trophy front runner in Justin Fields. Warren will have to regain trust with conference flagships at Ohio State and Michigan, all while trying to figure out whether Nebraska really will try to go back to the Big 12. Revenue was going to take a hit. Will conference-wide recruiting take a hit now, too?
Why leave room for the ultimate backfire? That would be watching ACC, Big 12 and SEC schools play in some version of NFL Lite in October. The Big Ten could miss out on the season. If that somehow happens, it will never be forgotten in Columbus, Ann Arbor, Madison, State College and Iowa City — where the local economy lives for college football.
Unless, of course, they play in the spring. That scenario on the surface sounds far-fetched. Several of the Big Ten's best players — Penn State's Micah Parsons, Minnesota's Rashod Bateman and Purdue's Rondale Moore — already opted out. What incentive would there be for Fields or any of Ohio State's first-round talent to give it a go in the spring? Zero incentive, at this point, would be the right answer.
There is a gravity to the decision Warren presided over on Tuesday, and the hope is that it's better safe now than sorry later. That could still be the case, and Warren and the Big Ten presidents could work to restore the conference by preserving the eligibility of players who lose the season, spear-heading cooperation with the player-led movement that will envelop the offseason and leading a better, bigger Big Ten in the future.
That is the best-case scenario moving forward. Every decision Warren makes from here will determine whether the Big Ten is truly first — or last — in the future.
