Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on October 24. In addition to the title game that was played on December 19, the conference seeded all remaining teams for "championship week" games.[1]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the conference voted on August 11, 2020, to indefinitely postpone all fall athletics, including football, citing the worsening trends of the pandemic in the country. On September 16, the conference approved a shortened, eight-game football season beginning October 24, with the final week featuring the Big Ten championship game on December 19.
The Big Ten had two new coaches for the 2020 season. Rutgers hired former coach Greg Schiano to serve as head coach, replacing Chris Ash who was fired during the 2019 season.[2]Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio announced on February 4, 2020, that he was retiring from his position. The Spartans announced the hiring of Mel Tucker as the new head coach on February 12, 2020.[3] On December 13, Illinois fired its head coach Lovie Smith, and on December 19 announced the hiring of Bret Bielema as its new head coach.[4]
Previous season
On the field of play last season, Ohio State won the East Division title and made their fifth appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game and third consecutive appearance. In the West Division, Wisconsin and Minnesota tied for the division title, but the Badgers represented the division in the conference title game due to their head-to-head win over the Golden Gophers. Wisconsin made their sixth appearance in the conference title game overall. In that championship game, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin 34–21 to win their third consecutive Big Ten championship. With that win, the Buckeyes landed a spot in the 2019–20 College Football Playoff as the #2 seed.[5]
Nine teams participated in bowl games in the 2018 season, and the league went 5–4 in those games. Ohio State made the College Football Playoff but fell to Clemson 29–23 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Delay of season
On July 9, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Big Ten announced that all competition in fall sports, including football, would be played exclusively in-conference, in order to "have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time".[6] An updated 10-game conference-only schedule was released on August 5, 2020.[7]
On August 11, in the wake of multiple Group of Five conferences deciding to do so,[8] the council of the Big Ten voted 11–3 to postpone fall athletics for the 2020–21 season (with all but Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State voting in favor). Commissioner Kevin Warren cited negative trends and uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 as a factor in the decision. The conference stated that it would evaluate options, including possibly playing in spring 2021 instead.[9][10][11] After the decision to postpone the season, the Big Ten formed a taskforce to investigate options for a return to play.[11] President Donald Trump criticized the Big Ten's decision to postpone fall football, as part of his general criticism of U.S. colleges and universities that have not resumed on-campus activities. All other Power Five conferences besides the Pac-12 (which also postponed its season shortly after the Big Ten's decision) were still planning to play in the fall.[12][13]
On September 14, it was reported that the Big Ten was considering the possibility of reversing its decision and playing a shortened conference football season as early as mid-to-late October.[14] On September 16, the Big Ten approved an eight-game conference season that would begin October 24, and conclude on December 19 with the Big Ten Championship Game. The conference originally planned to hold a slate of cross-division matchups between seeds alongside the championship game.[11][15]
The conference instituted a daily antigen testing protocol from September 30; PCR tests are used to confirm positives found via antigen testing. Players who test positive on both tests are removed from play for at least 21 days and undergo cardiac tests during this period, and will have to be cleared by a cardiologist before they can return to play. Positivity rates among participating teams and the local population will also be a factor: teams with a positivity rate above 5% or a population positivity rate above 7% will be required to halt all activity for seven days.[11]
Preseason
2020 Big Ten Spring Football and number of signees on signing day:
Below are the results of the media poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses. For the 2020 poll, Ohio State was voted as the favorite to win both the East Division and the Big Ten Championship Game. This is the 10th iteration of the preseason media poll conducted by Cleveland.com, which polls at least one credentialed media member for each Big Ten team. Only twice in the last ten years has the media accurately predicted the Big Ten champion.[19]
The AP and Coaches Polls ranked Big Ten teams in the preseason, but then removed those teams after the league suspended play.
The Coaches Poll returned to ranking Big Ten teams with the Sept. 20 poll. The AP Poll returned Big Ten teams to the rankings with the Sept. 27 poll.
Pre
Wk 1
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 5
Wk 6
Wk 7
Wk 8
Wk 9
Wk 10
Wk 11
Wk 12
Wk 13
Wk 14
Wk 15
Final
Illinois
AP
C
CFP
Not released
Indiana
AP
RV
RV
RV
17
13
10
9
12
10
8
7
7
12
C
RV
RV
19
13
10
10
12
11
9
7
8
13
CFP
Not released
12
12
12
11
11
Iowa
AP
24
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
24
19
18
17
16
C
23
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
24
18
17
16
15
CFP
Not released
24
19
16
16
15
Maryland
AP
RV
C
RV
RV
RV
CFP
Not released
Michigan
AP
15
23
20
19
18
13
23
C
15
19
21
19
19
17
14
25
RV
CFP
Not released
Michigan State
AP
RV
C
RV
CFP
Not released
Minnesota
AP
19
RV
25
24
21
RV
C
18
22
RV
RV
25
21
RV
CFP
Not released
Nebraska
AP
C
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
CFP
Not released
Northwestern
AP
RV
RV
RV
23
19
11
16
15
15
15
10
C
RV
RV
23
20
13
17
14
14
13
10
CFP
Not released
8
14
14
14
14
Ohio State
AP
2 (16)
6 (4)
6 (2)
6
5
3
3
3 (1)
3 (1)
3
3
3
3
3
2
C
2 (17)
10 (2)
6 (2)
6 (2)
5 (2)
5 (2)
3 (2)
3 (2)
3 (3)
3 (2)
3 (1)
4 (1)
4 (1)
4
3
2
CFP
Not released
4
4
4
4
3
Penn State
AP
9
10
9
9
8
18
RV
C
7
13
10
8
8
7
17
RV
CFP
Not released
Purdue
AP
RV
RV
RV
C
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
CFP
Not released
Rutgers
AP
C
CFP
Not released
Wisconsin
AP
12
19
16
16
14T
9
10
13
10
18
18
25
RV
C
12
17
18
14
15
14
11
11
14
12
20
19
25
RV
RV
RV
CFP
Not released
16
16
Legend
Improvement in ranking
Drop in ranking
Not ranked previous week
No change in ranking from previous week
RV
Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т
Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Schedule
Index to colors and formatting
Big Ten member won
Big Ten member lost
Big Ten teams in bold
All times Eastern time.
† denotes Homecoming game
Regular season schedule
The Regular season was scheduled to begin on September 3 and end on November 28. The Big Ten Championship Game was scheduled to be held on December 5, 2020.
On July 9, 2020, the Big Ten Conference announced that all non-conference contests in all fall sports, including football, would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league then moved to institute a 10-game, conference-only schedule in football, which would include multiple open weeks for teams in order to introduce flexibility into the schedule. On August 5, the Big Ten released the new reconfigured 10-game conference-only schedule.[20] On August 11, 2020, the conference decided to postpone all fall sports and evaluate option to restart competition in spring 2021.[9]
On September 16, 2020, the Big Ten announced that the football season would start on the weekend of October 24. There will be an eight-game regular season taking place over eight weeks. Each team will play all the other teams in its division, plus two crossover games with teams in the other division. Then the league championship game will be played on December 19. Also on the weekend of December 19, there will be crossover divisional games featuring the 2nd place teams from each division facing off, the 3rd places teams meeting each other, etc. The new schedule was released on September 19.[21][22]
On December 9, the Big Ten waived its rule of requiring teams to play a minimum of six league games to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game, allowing Ohio State (5-0) to represent the East Division.[23]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.
Note: The additional games were originally planned to be cross-divisional matchups of the teams with the same standings – second place vs. second place, third place vs. third place, and so on. The schedule was changed to preserve rivalry games that were canceled during the regular season, and to avoid rematches.
Indiana-Purdue game canceled due to COVID-19 issues at both schools.[35]
Nebraska's game with Rutgers has been adjusted from a 3:00 PM to a 6:30 PM kickoff time on Friday, December 18 after the cancellation of the Indiana-Purdue game.[38]
Michigan-Iowa game canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan.[36]
Maryland-Michigan State game canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Maryland.[37]
Canceled regular season games
The following non-conference games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic:[39]
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.[50][51]
Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten is not allowing fans into stadiums for the 2020 season. Family members and limited staff are permitted. Some schools count and track those numbers and some do not.
↑ New Orleans received 2021 and 2022 third-round selections when its director of pro scouting Terry Fontenot was hired by Atlanta as general manager.[55]
↑ Lambert, Ivan (April 25, 2020). "Goodbye Trent". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 26, 2020. Williams will now become a member of the San Francisco 49ers; while in return the Redskins received a fifth round choice in this year's draft (156th overall) and also a third round choice in the 2021 draft.
↑ No. 11: NY Giants → Chicago (D). NY Giants traded its first-round selection (11th overall) to Chicago in exchange for first- and fifth-round selections (20th and 164th overall), alongside their first and fourth-round selections in 2022.[trade 1]
↑ No. 31: Kansas City → Baltimore (PD). Kansas City traded a first, third, and fourth-round selection (31st, 94th, and 136th overall) and a 2022 fifth-round selection to Baltimore in exchange for a second-round selection (58th overall), a 2022 sixth-round selection, and offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr.[Trade 1]
↑ Multiple trades: No. 84: Indianapolis → Philadelphia (PD). Indianapolis traded a third-round selection and a 2022 conditional second-round selection, which could go up to the first round, to Philadelphia in exchange for quarterback Carson Wentz.[trade 6] No. 84: Philadelphia → Dallas (D). See No. 10: Dallas → Philadelphia.[trade 4]
↑ No. 88: L.A. Rams → San Francisco (D). The L.A. Rams traded a third-round selection (88th overall) to San Francisco in exchange for two fourth-round selections (117th and 121st overall).[trade 9]
↑ Multiple trades: No. 89: Cleveland → Carolina (D). See No. 52: Carolina → Cleveland.[trade 9] No. 89: Carolina → Houston (D). Carolina traded a third-round selection (89th overall) to Houston in exchange for fourth- and fifth-round selections (109th and 158th overall) and a 2022 fourth-round selection.[trade 9]
↑ Multiple trades: No. 156: Dallas → Philadelphia (PD). Dallas traded 2020 and 2021 fifth-round selections to Philadelphia in exchange for a 2020 fourth-round selection.[trade 10] No. 156: Philadelphia → Miami (PD). See No. 6: Philadelphia → Miami.[trade 3]
↑ No. 239: N.Y. Giants → Denver (PD). The New York Giants traded a seventh-round selection to Denver in exchange for cornerback Isaac Yiadom.[trade 18]
↑ The NFL originally announced 32 compensatory selections. On March 19, it released a revised list of 33 selections. After correcting an error in the original calculation, the Patriots earned an additional fifth-round compensatory selection. The NFL Management Council and NFLPA agreed to add an extra compensatory selection instead of removing a previously awarded one.[56]
* Tom Allen was hired to replace Kevin Wilson in December 2016 at Indiana and coached the Hoosiers in their 2016 bowl game, going 0–1.
* Mike Locksley served as interim head coach at Maryland in 2015 and coached for six games, going 1–5.[57]
* Ryan Day served as interim head coach at Ohio State for the first three games of the 2018 season while Urban Meyer served a three-game suspension and went 3–0.[58]
* Greg Schiano served as head coach at Rutgers from 2001 through 2011 then left for the NFL. Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, Schiano returned to Rutgers for his second stint as head coach. The Scarlet Knights competed in the Big East Conference in his previous stay at the school.
* Lovie Smith was relieved of his coaching duties at Illinois on December 13. Offensive coordinator Rod Smith was named interim coach for the final game of the 2020 season.[59]
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