In today's episode of As the Big Ten Turns, two opposing narratives continue playing out in the public eye.
Yesterday's episode saw Dan Patrick say on his radio show that a source -- the same one that told him the Big Ten and Pac-12 would cancel their fall seasons on Tuesday, Aug. 11, one day before it ultimately happened -- was telling him the conference is targeting a possible Oct. 10 return date.
That happened just moments before the President joined the fray, claiming the White House was helping the Big Ten get back on the field and the push was on the "one-yard line."
In Tuesday's installment, we have Patrick circling back to his Monday report.
"There have been athletic directors and presidents who have refuted this report," Patrick said. "But I want to again caution you. They have to be able to accomplish the updated measures and procedures. That's really important to understand in all of this."
Patrick went on to say the Oct. 10 date was floated because that's the latest the Big Ten could begin its season and participate in the College Football Playoff.
As I wrote yesterday, this plan -- such that it exists to even graduate to the level of a "plan" -- seems unrealistic bordering on impossible. Oct. 10 is five weeks from this Saturday. A number of Big Ten players aren't even on campus right now, and the process of onboarding them would take at least a week, maybe two. That would leave you somewhere between three and four weeks to practice, all while assuming no hiccups emerge. And, of course, this assumes the Big Ten presidents would even go along with such a quick about-face less than a month after postponing the season in the first place. The "updated measures and procedures" part could be dead-on accurate, or, more likely, it could be a convenient off-ramp in the event the Big Ten does not return to the field by Oct. 10. Shortly after Patrick brought his explanation to air, ESPN's Heather Dinich said this on "Get Up." "Nothing has changed," Dinich said, quoting a source. "Nothing. We have to get all the medical questions answered before we can even bring back a plan to the presidents for approval."
Nebraska AD Bill Moos confirmed as much on Monday night.
After taking in the last two days, we can safely say Big Ten ADs and the conference office are working diligently, deliberately and delicately toward presenting a return-to-play plan to Big Ten presidents that would see the league begin sometime between Thanksgiving and January. Considering how disjointed this conference was for most of last month, that's progress.
But be sure to tune in to tomorrow's episode, where Brad Pitt and George Clooney present their plan to get the Big Ten on the field by the end of October.
In the meantime, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.