INDIANAPOLIS — Those Indiana and Purdue 2020 football schedules fans have been saving are no longer worth the paper they were printed on.
Wholesale schedule changes for both teams are part of the Big Ten's revised plans for the 2020 football season announced Wednesday.
All conference schools will play a ten-game schedule with five home and five road games, and all will be against Big Ten teams. Three non-conference games were eliminated from the original 12-game schedule and one conference game has been added to make an even 10-games.
The Big Ten Championship Game has not been moved. It's still Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, but could be switched to a later date in December.
Here are the revised schedules for Indiana and Purdue:
2020 Indiana Hoosiers Football Schedule
Sept. 4 at Wisconsin
Sept. 12 home Penn State
Sept. 19 home Illinois
Sept. 26 at Ohio State
Oct. 10 at Minnesota
Oct. 17 home Michigan
Oct. 24 home Maryland
Oct. 31 at Rutgers
Nov. 7 at Michigan State
Nov. 21 home Indiana
2020 Purdue Boilermakers Football Schedule
Sept. 5 at Michigan
Sept. 12 home Iowa
Sept. 19 home Ohio state
Sept. 26 at Illinois
Oct. 10 at Wisconsin
Oct. 17 home Rutgers
Oct. 24 at Minnesota
Oct. 31 home Northwestern
Nov. 14 home Nebraska
Nov. 21 at Indiana
Among the questions that remain is a big one: How many fans will be allowed to attend games at Indiana and Purdue? Will the schools follow the lead of many NFL teams in making a drastic reduction in the number of seats available to promote social distancing? Neither school has said.
In its announcement Wednesday, the conference said issuing a schedule does not guarantee that competition will occur. If COVID-19 concerns become too great, games could be delayed or canceled.
In addition to plans for the 2020 football season, the Big Ten announced that competition start dates for men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball have been postponed through at least September 5. Conference-only schedules for these sports will be released at a later date.
For athletes, COVID-19 testing will be managed by a third-party laboratory to ensure consistency across the conference. Sports that have a high risk of contact will have a minimum of two tests per-week during the season. All other sports will have a minimum of one test per-week.
“Our institutions are committed to taking the necessary measures to facilitate a safe return to campus for our students this fall,” said Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Northwestern University President. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have prioritized the health and safety of our students. Their welfare is paramount and remains at the forefront of all of our decisions."
