Big Ten announces suspension of all team activities, including spring football, through April 6

The Big Ten Conference has announced another change to the athletics schedule in response to the COVID-19 outbreak across the world. As of Friday, all organized team activities, including spring football practices, have been suspended through April 6 and will be re-evaluated at that time.

The Michigan Wolverines were set to begin spring football on March 17. Their open practice for April 18 at Michigan Stadium has already been canceled after the wave of announcements on Thursday

Here is how the Friday statement reads from the conference:

The Big Ten Conference announced today that all organized team activities have been suspended until April 6, 2020, and will be re-evaluated at that time.

The Big Ten has previously announced that in addition to canceling the Men’s Basketball Tournament it will be canceling all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year, and participation in all NCAA tournaments and competitions. The Conference also has announced a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future.

The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus.

Given that Michigan has a plethora of questions and position battles that extra reps in spring were set to begin answering, this pushes everything back. It’s the right move, but adds another layer of intrigue to the college football season.