
Now that the fall football season is officially on hold for the Big Ten Conference and the Gophers, questions surrounding when and how games will be played have cropped up with several scenarios making the rounds. The most likely outcome had been a spring season, with a short eight or ten game schedule being played mostly in March and April.
The latest rumor involves a possible winter season that begins in January, something that wasn't initially being considered.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal reported Tuesday that on a conference call with reporters, Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said that the league could release the revised 2020 schedule within a week or so.
They also report that multiple sources have confirmed the Big Ten wants to start a football season "as soon as possible".
There are several good candidates across the Big Ten that would provide indoor facilities, including U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Others are in Indianapolis and Detroit, both of them home to NFL teams. If the conference needs other similar sites, there are indoor facilities in St. Louis and Syracuse.
Part of the consideration is for players hoping to enter the NFL Draft. A spring season would overlap with the normal April draft timeline, something players and coaches said would be a dealbreaker for some players. Already, players around the country, including Minnesota's Rashod Bateman, have opted out of the college season to prepare for the draft.
Gopher coach P.J. Fleck has said he supports the Big Ten's decision to move the season beyond this fall.
“It truly is up to the medical staff, period,” said Fleck. “The health and safety of our players is the number one thing in everybody’s mind right now, period. And I think our players would tell you the same thing.”
There are also calls around the college football world to allow free transfers for players who want to try and play this fall in an alternate conference without penalty. Lane Kiffin, now the head coach at Ole Miss, said Tuesday, ""I don't understand it at all. If a kid wants to play football and he's not allowed to play football at his school and his conference, why can't he go somewhere else and play? How much sense does that make?"
If the Big Ten were to wait until spring, it is possible many of the biggest stars in the league would look to transfer in order to play games prior to the draft, something the league would like to avoid. The Pac-12 has also announced they're cancelling the fall football season and could see similar issues.
Right now, the other Power Five conferences outside of the Big Ten and Pac-12 have said they intend to play this fall, including the SEC, ACC and Big 12.