President Donald Trump reveled in the decision by the Big 10 to reverse its earlier choice to postpone the football season, taking some of the credit Wednesday morning for the conference announcing it would begin play Oct. 23.
Trump posted to Twitter:
"Great News: BIG TEN FOOTBALL IS BACK. All teams to participate. Thank you to the players, coaches, parents, and all school representatives. Have a FANTASTIC SEASON! It is my great honor to have helped!!!"
With daily antigen testing available to all "student-athletes, coaches, trainers, and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games" the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors decided football can be played.
The Big 10 announced Aug. 11 it had decided to postpone its entire football season because of the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus until the spring, following the decisions of the Pac-12 and Ivy League conferences. But Trump had been pushing for the schools and conferences to reverse that decision.
He reiterated the call Tuesday night during a nationally televised town hall discussion, calling on the Big 10 to play.
"I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open – let the football games – let them play sports," Trump said.
The Big 10 joins the ACC, Big 12 and SEC in either playing or planning to play this fall. The Pac-12 is the only major conference that does not intend to play.
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