Big Ten Players List Demands for Upcoming Season

This has been an extremely busy week for the Big Ten and commissioner Kevin Warren.

After receiving news yesterday that Minnesota Wide receiver, Rashod Bateman had opted out for the 2020 season, we were also hit last night with news that Penn State linebacker, Micah Parsons would be opting out of the season. Both players were projected first-rounder’s and were big time difference makers for their teams.

This morning the news continued for the Power 5 conference, with some good and bad. The Big Ten released their schedule, but shortly after, The Players Tribune posted an article with 1,000 Big Ten players demanding change for the upcoming season.

This comes on the heels of the Pac-12 players, who listed their demands on Sunday night.

In the Big 10 Players Tribune article, the players detailed their frustration with the conference.

"While we appreciate the Big Ten’s recently announced plan for the upcoming season, we believe that the conference’s proposal falls short in certain areas. Given that the players are the primary stakeholders in the business of college sports, we believe any course of action moving forward needs to include player input. We are deeply disappointed with the lack of leadership demonstrated by the NCAA with respect to player safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that the NCAA must — on its own and through collaboration with the conference — devise a comprehensive plan to ensure the safety and well-being of players leading up to and during the upcoming fall season."

Some of their most notable demands are:

Ensure all athletes have up-to-date information about the risks that COVID-19 may pose to their personal health, the health of their families and the health of their communities
Whistleblower protections for athletics personnel and college athletes reporting a suspected violation
Sufficient penalties for noncompliance
Additionally, testing on the day of competition (or within 24 hours of competition for each team that can be quarantined) with an FDA-approved test with less than 5% false negatives, with results delivered at least two hours before competition

NCAA president, Mark Emmert and his Board of Governors responded to these demands, and released their guidance for what each conference should do.

Essentially, they're leaving it up to each league to determine whether to play fall championships, but that decision must be made by August 21st. In order for a conference championship to happen, at least 50% of the teams in the conference must vote in favor of playing.

As we inch closer and closer to the season, things are starting to get a bit complicated.

How will this effect the other conferences, and will we see players from the SEC decide to follow suit to the Pac-12 and Big Ten?