AZ_blue

September 1st, 2020 at 4:11 PM ^

Reached via text this afternoon, #Huskers AD Bill Moos said of the Oct. 10 Big Ten start date rumor: "There's nothing to that."

Moos is part of a subcommittee that is looking into potential scheduling models as part of the league's return to competition group.

— Parker Gabriel (@HuskerExtraPG) September 1, 2020

https://twitter.com/HuskerExtraPG/status/1300882816121671681?s=20 

azee2890

September 1st, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^

They probably have the opportunity to re-evaluate their decision so long as they didn't sign with an agent. Some players opted out before the season was even postponed like Micah Parsons and Rondale Moore. Ambry might want to sit out just to prevent any more health problems. I could definitely see Mayfield coming back to solidify himself as a 1st rounder.

TrueBlue2003

September 1st, 2020 at 4:53 PM ^

IF they actually play some games in 2020, which I highly doubt, but it's a lot more fun to talk about that hypothetical than not, I doubt Mayfield plays.  He's already pretty solidly a first rounder.  There are far more downsides to playing (injury, covid, playing poorly) than upsides.  And it sounds like from the comments his father made, he doesn't really have an interest in playing for the love the game or for the team, which is about the only reason for him to play.

TrueBlue2003

September 1st, 2020 at 7:13 PM ^

This is fair.  I thought he was more of a consensus first rounder.  Looking at some mocks, he's first round to about half of the ones I saw, so more like a borderline first rounder.  Still think he has more to lose than to gain, especially considering the added risks this year.  You're right that he could get passed by some guys that might emerge to push him solidly second round.

To your point about projection, he's got prototype build and is young so his ascension in just a year of tape from pretty good to stuffing chase young is really impressive.  At a position of critical importance, he'll go high.

You're right though, there is more upside than I initially thought, especially in the NFL where the money scale accelerates quite a bit as you move up.

MGoStrength

September 1st, 2020 at 10:43 PM ^

To your point about projection, he's got prototype build

He's listed on UM's roster at 6'5" which means in reality he's more like 6'3" - 6'4".  I would have figured a true 6'6" like Lewan was more of a prototype build.  To me he's just a decent build to where it is not a problem, but seems far from ideal in the way you'd expect an ideal body type to dominant over the regular guys.

swalburn

September 1st, 2020 at 3:31 PM ^

If this is true, the Big 10 has just bungled this from the get go.  I'm not criticizing the original decision, it just seems they didn't think this out at all and are completely unsure of themselves.

azee2890

September 1st, 2020 at 3:34 PM ^

OR...They are waiting for developments regarding the virus, its implications on the student body, and how well their protocols could slow down the spread. 

Maybe, just maybe, because the BIG 10 showed a bit more patience, that we will have a complete season while the other conferences have to routinely cancel games due to out breaks. 

DTOW

September 1st, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^

I think the Big 10 has bungled this from the jump regardless of whether or not this reporting is true. The Big 10 and the Presidents has themselves to blame for how this all has unfolded. Classic case of a bunch of really smart people doing really dumb stuff and wondering what happened. 

mooseman

September 1st, 2020 at 8:58 PM ^

So every time some knucklehead comes out with an unsupported claim it's a sign that the conference is waffling? It sounds to me like they made a call and that's that. Agree with the decision or not, I don't see any sign that they're unsure, just a lot of other people superimposing their wishes on the conference.

BuddhaBlue

September 1st, 2020 at 3:39 PM ^

I honestly can't comment on how good a decision this might be, but I will be happy to watch. I hope to Bokonon that it would mean things are going really well and there is enough known about the unknowns to do this safely

wildbackdunesman

September 1st, 2020 at 3:43 PM ^

If the season started on October 10 that would get you to 8 Saturdays up to the Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend.

You could have a set up of every team playing the 6 teams in their division with 2 bye weeks for Covid make up dates, etc...  This would keep most rivalries as most rivalries are within the divisions anyways.

Then just make a playoff, take the top two teams from each division and the 1 seed in the west plays the 2 seed in the east and vice versa as the semi-finals.

MRunner73

September 1st, 2020 at 3:58 PM ^

We're not going back to square one; Sept 6th, but this target keeps moving. I'd really love it if the B1G were to start the season on Oct 10th.

Per Jamie Morris: B1G insiders told him about an Oct 24th (Oct 21st-a Wednesday) start date.

It's getting crazy. Now we're getting news on various start dates before early January. Much more to come. Nothing is settled so there will be lots more to comment about.

samdrussBLUE

September 1st, 2020 at 4:05 PM ^

what a shit show. I guess this is advantageous to a September start because it might allow the first wave of cases to make its way through the universities/campuses?

Perkis-Size Me

September 1st, 2020 at 4:08 PM ^

Well here's the big question: what's to stop Schlissel from just saying "Hell no, its not happening" and shut the whole thing down again for Michigan? He's already said no once, and I don't think he's a guy who's first, second, or even third priority is to get his school's football team back on the field right now.

I don't know, maybe he's already said behind closed doors that if the conference can live up to these new safety measures he'll approve, but as far as Michigan is concerned, the buck stops with him, no matter what Harbaugh or Warde do on their end. My concern is that if this initiative doesn't involve the school presidents, and if its just the coaches and ADs, its probably already dead before it even starts. 

DTOW

September 1st, 2020 at 4:22 PM ^

Well, for starters there’s a legitimate chance that it would result in the beginning of the end of his tenure at Michigan. You’d also see substantial damage to the University financially and competitively. Strong possibility that you’d see lawsuits, positional terminations for the school, a reduction in athletic teams and further unintended consequences that we cannot foresee. 
 

Right or wrong if Michigan chooses not to play and the other schools do play the pushback from fans, alumni, donors, players, parents ect would be so great it would make him staying virtually untenable. 
 

For the life of me I still can’t understand the initial decision the Presidents made. 

Perkis-Size Me

September 1st, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^

Good point, I probably should've clarified. I meant to ask what if Schlissel and the other presidents all opt to just shut this down again? Most of them already said no the first time around, so if those same folks aren't changing their minds with this Oct start date idea, then this would just be an exercise in futility. 

I think I'm just guarding myself against having too much hope, because Schlissel does not strike me as a guy who places much priority in getting his football team back on the field right now. You could probably make the argument that its one of the last things he's thinking about. If this proposal isn't including the school presidents, I just have a really hard time seeing it go anywhere.