Minnesota’s hopes for a 2020 football season came to an end Tuesday when the Big Ten and PAC-12 conferences officially announced the cancelation of the league’s fall sports and football campaigns.

While the news doesn’t come as a surprise with the global COVID-19 pandemic still in full effect and altering sports seasons and everyday life all across the world, it’s a devastating and unfortunate circumstance for the Gophers’ coaching staff, administration, student-athletes and fans that were hoping to be inside TCF Bank Stadium this fall.

The conference’s decision this week was even tougher for its member schools due to the fact that the league just announced a revised schedule on Aug. 5th with complete intentions of playing football this fall.

We all know and understand the seriousness of the coronavirus and how it has changed everyday life and how things function, but why would Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren take the time to strategize and plan out an entirely new schedule and give all of these teams hope that they’d be playing this season then the school presidents vote to wipe it all away less than a week later?

Minnesota’s revised schedule was as follows: at Michigan State Sept. 5, vs. Michigan Sept. 12, vs. Iowa Sept. 19, at Wisconsin Sept. 26, at Nebraska Oct. 3, vs. Indiana Oct. 10, vs. Purdue Oct. 24, at Illinois Oct. 30, vs. Northwestern Nov. 14 and at Maryland Nov. 21. The Big Ten championship was slated for Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, but could’ve been moved to as late as Dec. 19.

That said slate is now nothing but just history for the Gophers and every other team in the league that were making adjustments and going through fall camp to prepare for opening weekend Sept. 5th.

Instead, they’re all turning their attention to the spring -- if the conference is even able to logistically put together a plan to return to action then, which is highly unlikely.

If we’re being completely honest, Minnesota most likely won’t play an actual game against an opponent again until next fall, which is, obviously, a ways away. And that’s what’s on the minds of the league’s teams while they’re sitting back and watching their sister conferences -- like the Big 12, SEC and ACC -- announce revised schedules and say they’re all moving forward with their plans to play even after so many other leagues have made the call to cancel.

On top of the Big Ten and PAC-12 jumping the gun and saying “we’re done,” the Big 12 announced Wednesday its revised league schedule for this fall, which can’t be sitting well with any Big Ten team knowing it isn’t going to be playing whatsoever.

On top of that schedule release, the Big 12 is taking COVID-19 testing to a whole new level, which shows that the league is committed to playing football -- unlike the Big Ten. Under the testing protocol, after a test is returned positive, an EKG, a troponin blood test, echocardiogram and cardiac MRI will all be administered.

So, to wrap everything up, while the Big 12, SEC, and ACC are doing everything they can to strategize and create the safest environment and make college football work this fall, the Big Ten and PAC-12 are simply hanging up their hats and giving up far too soon.

*****

- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION

- SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST on Libsyn

- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @AlexCarlsonTGR, @CStevensTGR, @CoachDavidSisk, @SeanW_Rivals, @ByMansfield

- SUBSCRIBE to The Gopher Report