Will the Big Ten and Pac-12 Conferences Play Football in Spring 2021?

On Tuesday, August 11^th, both the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences announced that they were suspending their fall sports seasons due to the current health situation in the United States. This decision included the massively popular football programs which were supposed to begin play next month.

In late-July, both conferences had voted to play in-conference games only with the hopes of limiting contact. That decision had a domino effect on the sport which saw colleges like Connecticut and conferences like the MAC come out and suspend their fall football programs.

Ultimately, the leaders of both the Big Ten and Pac-12 decided that playing football in the fall was not in the best interest of their athletic programs, staff and student athletes. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren shared why he, along with other school and medical leaders, decided to suspend the season:

“There has been a lot of discussion about myocarditis. Any time you’re talking about the heart of anyone, but especially a young person, you have to be concerned. We want to make sure we’re doing everything we possibly can to keep our student-athletes safe.”

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott reiterated what Warren said in that the goal was to protect the student athletes and all personnel connected to the athletic programs.

What About the Other Power 5 Conferences?

On Monday, August 10^th, I examined a college football prop bet on whether the Power 5 schools would suspend the season or not. As of this writing, only two of the five top College Football conferences have decided against playing. The ACC, Big-12, and SEC all insist on playing in the fall.

Big-12 football programs continue to believe that their season will start in a few weeks. Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby is cautiously optimistic:

“I am very optimistic about moving forward. Having said that, however, if we get to a point where we have a crossroads and the information contraindicates going forward, we know that we can pivot quickly to protect student athletes and to do something different if what we’re doing isn’t working.”

Reports are that Big-12 leaders believe it’s too early to call off the fall season and that all options are being exhausted to provide comprehensive testing, monitoring and quarantines when necessary.

The ACC is absolutely committed to playing football in the fall and believes that their monitoring system has not only been great so far, but that it will continue to protect all in involved with football. The conference is set to begin play on September 5^th.

The last of the Power 5 conferences, and arguably the best over the last decade, is the SEC and they’re also staying the course for a fall football season. Commissioner Greg Sankey is comfortable with their approach to this situation and is aiming to begin their season on September 26^th.

With three of the five major football conferences staying the course for fall football, numerous questions and concerns arise in regards to Playoffs, the National Championship, and when the Pac-12 or Big Ten will play their 2020 fall season.

College football betting sites have also taken a look at when these two conferences will play again. Let’s huddle up and examine the following prop bets to see where we should place our wagers:

Big Ten Football Betting Odds

Just like all of the fans, analysists and schools are debating when the Big Ten will play football again, online sports betting sites also have different views on this topic. These differences can be seen in the following Big Ten football odds:

When Will the Big Ten Play a Football Season?

• Before or during Spring 2021 (-190)
• After Spring 2021 (+145)

Bovada is pretty confident that the conference will play out their fall football season again. Odds favor games being played before or during the spring of 2021. Albeit, they’re not overwhelmingly in favor of it. Unfortunately, it gets worse with the next sportsbook.

Will the Big Ten Play Any Games During Spring 2021?

• Yes (+375)
• No (-650)

BetOnline.ag is clearly against the idea of the Big Ten actually following through with a spring football season. And, this sports betting website might have legitimate cause for concern.

The Big-Ten reportedly wants to start play by the end of February as they will need at least four weeks of practicing before a season can begin. Unfortunately, that’s going to be challenging for a number of reasons.

One major reason is the weather.  States like Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania to name a few, have bad winter seasons during those months with frigid temperatures and plenty of snow.

Another reason that could hinder the success of a spring Big Ten football season is that the top players in the conference will most likely opt out due to how close it is to the NFL Draft and the 2021 NFL regular season.

In fact, some of the conference’s top players had already opted out at the prospects of a fall season like Minnesota receiver Rashod Batmen and the best linebacker in the nation Micah Parsons who plays for Penn State.

I fully expect stars like Ohio State’s Justin Fields, who is a projected Top 2 NFL Draft pick next year, to opt out as well.

A third major hurdle to these spring football plans are the potential complications once students return to school this month.  With thousands of students returning to campuses across the nation, medical experts have no idea how that will affect the country.

Lastly, I just don’t see how schools will be successful in trying to make student athletes play two complete football seasons in less than 10 months. If they truly care about the athletes, like they say they do in postponing fall programs, then two seasons in 2021 makes no sense.

I hate to be all doom and gloom, but as of now I see this Big Ten season being lost. A spring season just doesn’t seem feasible at this point.

Pac-12 Football Betting Odds

Will the Pac-12 play football in Spring 2021?

• Yes (+425)
• No (-800)

The Pac-12 aims to get their fall sports going right after the New Year. Many of the school’s presidents are hopeful that things will change throughout the country and make playing sports safer for the student athletes.

Unfortunately, you can apply the same Big 10 factors above to the Pac-12 as well. And, that ultimately means that I don’t see this conference playing games either. In fact, I think the chances are even worse for the Pac-12 than the Big 10.

Additionally, the players’ unity group for the Pac-12 has been very critical of the conference and blasts them by saying the system is broken.

With that said, I think it will get worse before it gets better for the Pac-12. Take the “no” option as well.