Northwestern catches a scheduling break, Pac-12 and Mountain West re-vote to play football
This time around, the Big Ten is the domino it thought it would be in August.
Good morning. What a week it has been. Welcome to the tenth issue of the Inside NUsletter.
With our evolution comes a desire for change, and we want to improve this newsletter. We’d greatly appreciate it if you filled out this Google form (it can take you 60 seconds) so we can get some constructive feedback.
We’re excited to say we’ve got some good ideas for this newsletter come football season (read: four weeks away), but we need to know we’re on the right path.
Today, like always, we’ll highlight some of our articles from the past week, some of the craziness that took place in the college sports realm as well as some random enjoyable stuff we found on the internet.
If you’ve come to expect anything from Inside NU, it’s that we don’t like to take ourselves too seriously. If this is your first time reading, the Inside NUsletter should come off as informal but informative. Let’s get into it.
What we’ve been up to
The Big Ten released the third edition of its 2020 football schedule. Each team will play everyone in its division (six games) and two crossover games before Champions Week, when corresponding seeds (2 vs 2, 3 vs 3) from each division will face off, unless the teams have already played, in which case the conference will intervene.
One might say that ‘Cats got themselves a rather favorable schedule. They will open hosting Maryland, and their other crossover comes Thanksgiving weekend against Michigan State, a program in transition. This new schedule also dropped Penn State, Northwestern’s previous (2.0) opening day opponent, from the slate. Another potential advantage to the new schedule? The ‘Cats will face Big Ten West rivals Minnesota and Wisconsin well into the season and in non-consecutive weeks. They’ll also face off at home against a Nebraska side fresh off of dates with Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Speaking of the Cornhuskers, they have, according to us, the hardest crossover schedule out of all 14 Big Ten programs, playing both Ohio State and Penn State. Michigan and Wisconsin also don’t have it too easy, while the Buckeyes have a good chance to run the table and make the College Football Playoff.
On Wednesday, Riley Lees, Greg Newsome II and Peyton Ramsey spoke to the media via Zoom, the first time player availability since the reinstatement of the football season. Much of the questioning was centered around what following COVID protocol in football activities is like, as well as how the offense was adjusting to new offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian. Here’s what Lees had to say about the differences between shirtless god Mick McCall and Bajakian:
“Schematically, a curl flat is a curl flat. It is what it is; it’s more the terminology. Coach Jake has brought in a lot of energy. He’s very upbeat and a good teacher, and he’s making learning his offense very easy, a smooth transition. We’re picking it up day by day to master this offense and execute. A lot of us have picked it up very well. In the spring meetings we were able to get when we were quarantined, that helped a lot. Coming into fall camp, this is our fourth or fifth time going over day one through five.”
With the return of football means the reinvigorated hopes of many an NFL draft prospect. Daniel Olinger ranked some of the Big Ten’s most notable names who benefit from football’s return, including NU middle linebacker Paddy Fisher, who slots in at number three.
We end this section with two columns. Any person who reads Inside NU knows editor-in-chief Eli Karp has followed the development of rapid testing very closely (this is a not-so-subtle plug for his newsletter Positivity Amid the Pandemic). Anyway, the introduction of daily antigen testing has been a huge conduit for the prospect of a season from a health and safety standpoint. These frequent tests can identify players before they become infectious, thereby weeding out those who could transmit COVID-19 during team activities. Eli argues that the Big Ten’s expansion of testing could be a pioneer for other parts of society. Here’s a snippet:
“We must develop innovative solutions so we can safely regain aspects of our life, bit by bit. For (some) college football teams this has meant daily antigen testing, a rethinking of operations and comprehensive post-recovery screenings to look for any cardiac abnormalities. For schools, offices and other buildings it may mean more frequent, rapid testing as well as upgrading ventilation so air is filtered out more often, among other things.”
Sophomore Jack Izzo penned a piece reflecting on the abject strangeness of his, along with nearly half of the student body’s, return to Evanston despite campus functioning as largely nothing more than a testing clinic and lakefront park (that is, until facilities begins a Lakefill construction project next week).
“And yet, I am welcome here. This liminal space is not permanent, and I know that. Northwestern will eventually reopen and the buildings I pass on my frequent lakefill walks will joyfully let me in. The masks will eventually come off and the streets and sidewalks will slowly repopulate themselves with cheerful passersby. The cold bleachers of Ryan Field will eventually greet me with open arms, and cry, ‘Welcome back, we missed you!’”
What happened this week
Per usual, a lot.
Here’s a robust sampling of links on where college football stands right now. The SEC returns this week to begin its 10-game, conference-only schedule; the Big Ten gets set for contact practices next week with schools receiving daily antigen testing by September 30; the Pac-12 and Mountain West voted yesterday to resume football this fall — the MAC could do the same today; an ACC head coach tests positive for COVID-19; Deion Sanders becomes a coach; and other interesting reads.
Pick whatever your heart desires.
Behind the scenes with Alabama as the 2020 SEC college football season kicks off
Pac-12 joins the party, will play football starting in early November
Staples: Why isn’t Larry Scott fighting to get the Pac-12 into the Playoff?
Mountain West votes to play college football this fall: Eight-game season starts Oct. 24
Florida State prepares for a pivotal game at Miami with its coach in isolation
Jackson State announces Deion Sanders as its next head football coach
Lord of the Chain: The man in charge of disinfecting Miami’s turnover prop
How scouting college football is different, and more difficult, for NFL evaluators
Baylor, Houston and the cancellation complications that aren’t going away
Full list of 2020 college football games canceled or postponed by COVID-19
And of course, our token basketball article from CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, who’s been all over what’s happening on the hardwood.
Finally, a strong column on Iowa, one of several schools to cut sports after football was canceled. But the athletic department won’t bring them back, even with a football season.
Good Tweets
Forgive us for including so much Nebraska, but the content just writes itself at this point. After fighting so hard to get football back, the Huskers had even more complaints about their schedule, which features crossover games with Ohio State and Penn State.
We love fellow SB Nation blog Crimson Quarry, but respectfully, Nebraska is UNL, not NU. Don’t worry, though, we’ve had this same discussion on Twitter last weekend.
Can’t wait for kickoff versus the Terps in just four weeks.
Big if true.
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See you next week.
Written by Colin Kruse and Eli Karp.