Rutgers 2020 Football Season Postponed Due To Coronavirus

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — And now it's official: After speculation has been swirling for days, the Big Ten athletic conference announced Tuesday it is postponing the 2020-21 fall sports season due to coronavirus.

While the Big Ten used the word "postponement," the league said that includes all end-of-season championship games as well. There is a chance that Big Ten schools, including Rutgers, could play football in the spring, said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren.

"The Big Ten Conference will continue to evaluate a number of options regarding these sports, including the possibility of competition in the spring," said the league in Tuesday's statement. "Decisions regarding winter and spring sports will also continue to be evaluated."

Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway said the decision by the Big Ten was "the right" one, calling it "the only decision to make."

"The health and well-being of our student-athletes and our entire community is our first and highest concern," Holloway said. "The conference made the right decision to postpone the 2020 fall athletic season. No one is more disappointed than we are to see a delay in a season with such great promise for Rutgers, but it was the only decision to make in the face of the global pandemic."

That's quite different from what some of the other schools in the Big Ten are saying. Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost said Monday he is ready "to look at any and all options" to keep the fall 2020 season alive, including playing outside of the Big Ten, ESPN reported.

Like all schools in the Big Ten, Rutgers football players returned to campus June 15 to practice for the upcoming season. However, by July 25, the university announced it was quarantining the entire team because 10 players had tested positive for the coronavirus. Six of those players tested positive over the July 25-26 weekend.

The Big Ten said it created a task force specifically to address fears about COVID-19. It relied on advice from that task force to cancel the season.

Commissioner Warren said: “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."

The Big Ten Conference actually consists of 14 universities: Rutgers, University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Purdue University and University of Wisconsin.

On his nationally syndicated sports talk radio show Monday morning, Dan Patrick said that the 14 college presidents in the Big Ten voted 12-2 to cancel the season. The only two schools that wanted to still have the season were Nebraska and Iowa.

Fans reacted Tuesday afternoon to the news on Twitter:

The Ivy League and Mid-American Conference canceled the 2020 football season earlier this year.

Tuesday's announcement means all Rutgers men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball are canceled for the fall.

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Related: Rutgers Quarantines Football Team As 10 Players Test Positive (July 27)

This article originally appeared on the New Brunswick Patch