As the Big Ten Turns: Presidents to vote on return-to-play plan soon

The last month in Big Ten country has been a frustrating slog with no solid information to be found. That slog could soon meet its end.

The Big Ten's Return to Competition Task Force presented its findings and plan to the conference's steering committee on Saturday, a group that includes eight of the Big Ten's 14 presidents. While we don't know exactly what was discussed, we can bet that the advances in testing and evolved understanding of the risk of myocarditis in college athletes were at the top of the list.

If -- and that's a massive, enormous, 6-foot-5, 350-pound if -- all eight presidents were swayed by Saturday's presentation, it would take one more vote to resume football in the Big Ten.

All 14 presidents and chancellors will meet Sunday, and it's unclear whether a vote is taken then or held until early next week.

If the return-to-play plan is approved, we could expect to see Big Ten football take place next month.

It's possible -- even likely -- that if the Big Ten chooses to reinstate the fall season, individual schools could remain on the sidelines. (This would be a costly move for those football programs; if the rest of the Big Ten plays a late-fall season, it won't turn around and play again in the spring, meaning some teams could wind up skipping an entire year of football.)

However, it's expected that this upcoming vote is the last chance for anything resembling a fall season for the Big Ten. If the vote fails, Big Ten presidents would be expected to push the football to the winter. Whether that would mean Thanksgiving or January would be up in the air, but a successful vote would turn that into a moot point.

In the meantime, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.