Big 12 to proceed with football season, opener set for Sept. 26
The Big 12 will play football in the fall.
On Wednesday, the conference announced its schedule and new protocols for the 2020 season.
The schedule will still feature a "9+1" format with a nine-game conference slate and one nonconference contest for each school. Each program will have at least two byes with a potential third later in the season. The championship game is scheduled for Dec. 12.
Oklahoma, which has won the Big 12 in each of the last five seasons, will host Kansas State in its season opener Sept. 26.
Here's the new Big 12 conference schedule pic.twitter.com/KlIZJJTQOd
— Max Olson (@max_olson) August 12, 2020
"The Board continues to believe that the health and well-being of our student-athletes must guide all decisions," board of directors chairman Victor Boschini said in a statement. "To that end the Board has consistently relied on the advice and counsel of top medical experts to determine the viability of available options. Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the Board's collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely and in concert with the best interests of their well-being ... If at any point our scientists and doctors conclude that our institutions cannot provide a safe and appropriate environment for our participants, we will change course."
COVID-19 protocols include three tests per week. Nonconference football opponents must also adhere to the conference's testing protocols during the week leading up to games.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 became the first two Power 5 conferences to cancel their 2020 fall seasons Tuesday.