Ohio State takes the field for their first game of the season against Florida Atlantic on Aug. 31. Ohio State won 45-21. Credit: Cori Wade | Photo Editor
Time is running out for title-contending Big Ten teams.
With season openers occurring within the next two weeks in the Atlantic Coastal Conference and Big 12, Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten are in jeopardy of not having a shot at the College Football Playoff if they don’t complete the season before the rankings release on Dec. 20.
Amanda Babb, president of Football Parents at Ohio State and stepmother of sophomore wide receiver Kamryn Babb, opposed a potential Thanksgiving start date, first reported by Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“That to me doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Babb said. “At that point, it’s like, ‘Well, let’s just reinstate football.’ It’s six weeks difference. What would be so different from Thanksgiving to starting in October?”
A late November start date would follow two weeks of rankings put out by the College Football Playoff Committee, with the final rankings set to be released Dec. 20. The College Football Playoff semifinals are set to be played Jan. 1, 2021.
With a potential start date less than two months away from the beginning of the playoffs, Babb wants a plan that will provide the Buckeyes with a chance to compete for the title.
“Ultimately we want to play,” Babb said. “We should be given the opportunity to compete in the College Football Playoff and to compete for a national championship.”
Corey Teague, father of redshirt sophomore running back Master Teague, said a November start date would be an improvement upon a January start, but he also noted that it is not the best option available.
“I think if we can say, ‘Okay, let’s look at this Thanksgiving, after Thanksgiving, before,’ whatever it is, I think we can also look at a month from now,” Teague said.
Earlier this month, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said in a conference call with media members that he initially feels that an early January start date, as opposed to a February or March start, may be the best direction to go.
“In my opinion, our staff we met on this and met on this with Gene (Smith), and I think that starting the first week of January would be the best way to go,” Day said Aug. 11. “That way there is some separation between that season and the next season.”
In an Aug. 13 article in The Athletic, Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm detailed his own plans for a safe spring season. Brohm advocated for an eight-game season with a Feb. 27 start date and conclusion on April 17 as well as a postseason that consists of a Big Ten title game and either a Rose Bowl or four-team playoff.
Brohm outlined several advantages of playing in the spring, including a higher probability of having fans at games, eligibility and scholarship concerns will be resolved and the must-see energy of being one of the only conferences playing at the time.
“[It] creates an excitement and normal gameday atmosphere for our players and fans,” Brohm said in the outline.
Unlike the current Big Ten coaches, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has been an outspoken critic of a potential spring season, citing issues with players having to play two seasons in a single calendar year.
“The body, in my very strong opinion, is not made to play two seasons within one calendar year,” Meyer said in an Aug. 11 appearance on the Big Ten Network. “Football is a physical, tough sport, so I really don’t see that happening.”
While there is still no unified consensus for a start date, there is no lack of fight from the coaches and parents to iron out the details for a season.
“We’ve got some work to do,” Day said. “I know that I’m going to fight like heck for these guys to push forward on what we think is right.”
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