College Football is a Hot Mess

The GIST: Things are getting messier by the day in the college football world. Since mid-August there’s been a petition, a lawsuit, a tweet from president Donald Trump and, of course, a pandemic. And you thought The Bachelorette was dramatic.

What’d I miss?: Back on August 11th, the Big Ten became the first Power Five conference to postpone fall sports. Originally, that meant football would be on hold until at least 2021, but now they’re reportedly eyeing a mid-October start date.

That’s a plot twist: Tell us about it. Last week, eight players from the University of Nebraska filed a lawsuit in hopes of reversing the postponement. On Tuesday, President Trump called Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren to discuss returning to play ASAP. And we can’t forget the potential impact of Ohio State quarterback and QB1 star Justin Fields’ #WeWantToPlay petition, which has garnered over 300,000 signatures since he posted it on August 16th.

• While President Trump might think his outburst outreach would be enough to secure the reversal, it’s actually up to the 14 Big Ten university presidents and chancellors to decide what happens next. Last month they voted 11-3 to postpone the season, so don’t get your hopes up just yet.

Any other news?: After announcing on Monday that they planned to host 25,000 fans for their home opener, Iowa State reversed the decision on Wednesday. The bleachers will (thankfully) be empty when the Cyclones host Louisiana-Lafayette on September 12th.

• Iowa is in the COVID-19 “red zone,” and nearly 30% of those tested from the Iowa State student body had positive results during their second week of classes. Eeep.
  

• Despite these scary numbers, Iowa State is “still committed” to hosting fans for future games and will reassess before their next home game on October 3rd. But why though?