Buckeye Bits: Day says spring season can be done in January, Smith says there will be no fall season

The six stages of grief are:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

After it was announced that the Big Ten was canceling its fall sports season, I’m pretty sure the majority of the Ohio State fan base skipped the denial stage and went straight to anger (and rightfully so). However, based on my reaction when I saw this tweet...

I’m 99% sure I’m still in the denial stage. I saw the words “fluid situation” and my brain was like “WE’RE PLAYING THIS FALL.” I’m sure I’m not the only one, because the thought of there being ZERO Ohio State football games is too huge of a concept to grasp. Look, I know that the writing was on the wall when it was LATE JULY and we STILL hadn’t heard a peep from the NCAA/Big Ten. Deep down, I knew it was a possibility. But now that it’s actually happened... I literally can’t believe it.

I will let you know once I reach the anger stage. Please wait for me there so that we can all yell together. It won’t take long, considering Gene Smith just released this statement Wednesday evening:

There you have it. No fall season for Ohio State.

In case you missed the catastrophe that was Tuesday, Aug. 11., we’ve got you covered.

From Land-Grant Holy Land...

Breaking: Big Ten officially cancels fall 2020 football season

Matt Tamanini, LGHL

Matt has the deets.

It turns out Ohio State’s biggest opposition in 2020 wasn’t Clemson, but a failure of leadership

Gene Ross, LGHL

Gene has the tea.

Column: Everyone needs to learn from their mistakes if we want a college basketball season

Connor Lemons, LGHL

And Connor has the solution.

Impact of Tunmise Adeleye’s decommitment from Ohio State

Gene Ross, LGHL

Just what we all needed! A de-commitment from a top-30 player!

---

From around the gridiron...

Ryan Day met with the media on Wednesday to discuss the cancellation, how his players are handling it, his thoughts on playing in the spring and how Ohio State plans to move forward. You can read the majority of the interview here, but these were the big takeaways:

“They had it.”

Day even proposed a plan for a potential spring season—a plan that is better than anything I’ve heard come out of the Big Ten’s mouth. And it only took him 24 hours to conjure up!

Sure, there’s a lot to hash out (i.e. locations, the 2021 recruiting class, etc.) but last time I checked, that’s what the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the schools’ conference is for. Right? Or did I get that wrong?

Oh, and this is for those of you worried about players transferring:

Instead, Day said they “woke up this morning with a focus on what’s next, and that’s really the spring.” So, volunteer workouts shall commence on Thursday, and on-field workouts will start back up in September.

Ryan Day: a man with constructive solutions, a love for his student-athletes, and a passion for the game. I’d even go so far as to say, if he was running the Big Ten, we’d be gearing up for Game 1 in September.

But alas, this is what we’re dealing with instead:

---

Photo Gallery: Ohio State football players and coaches leave the WHAC following Big Ten’s announcement of canceled fall season

Zack Carpenter, Eleven Warriors

In case you want to twist the knife, here’s over twenty photos of heart-broken players and coaches leaving the football facility after receiving the news.

---

Current, former Ohio State players and coaches react to the Big Ten canceling the 2020 fall football season

Tim Bielik, cleveland.com

Just about every single Ohio State player and coach—former and current— took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the Big Ten and the NCAA. Tim rounded most of them up for you, but here’s the one that hurt the most:

:’)

---

If television, Big Ten contracts are real issue, Ohio State could keep fighting

Austin Ward, Lettermen Row

It’s not entirely impossible that the conference cancelled its season for reasons revolving around television contracts, conference membership and $$$$. Teams know this, which is why you see Nebraska sincerely threatening to leave the Big Ten and play games elsewhere.

But at the end of the day, it’s Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State with all the leverage. The Big Ten literally cannot afford to lose Ohio State, and as Austin writes, the school should use that leverage and keep fighting.

---

Big Ten cancellation leaves huge recruiting questions, no answers

Birm, Lettermen Row

One of the biggest concerns across the Ohio State fanbase is how all of this will affect the future of the program (aka recruiting). How can coaches evaluate prospects if in-person recruiting remains suspended? If there’s no tangible return-to-play plan, how will signing periods work for Ohio State and others? How do schools honor every current scholarship and still add new classes?

---

Thanks a lot, NCAA: A bubble could have saved college football

Chris Hummer, Bucknuts

And you had six months to figure it out!

---

From everywhere else...

No fans will be in attendance to watch Chase Young’s NFL debut.

---

This does not surprise me in the least.

---

What could possibly go wrong?