COVID-19 claimed the seasonal life of the Big Ten this week, meaning no Hawkeye football until at least the fall of 2021. However, the Iowa Cyclones will play on. On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN reports the Board of Directors for the Big 12, led by its commissioner and Waterloo native Bob Bowlsby, voted to go forward with the season despite the pandemic.

In the press release put out by the Big 12, the group highlights the student athletes desire to play and enhanced safety measure that will be taken to insure COVID-19 doesn't seep into the conversation this fall. The Big 12 also put out its revised football schedule. Teams will still play their '9+1' schedules. This will feature nine conference games and one non-conference game for each team.

This is excellent news for Iowa State fans as most other state teams are either on hold until the spring, or outright canceled for the season.

In addition to football, The Big 12 also announced its plans for keeping volleyball and soccer athletes healthy as they play in 2020-2021. Additional COVID health protocols will include EKGs, blood tests, echocardiograms and cardiac MRIs as there's been reports of athletes suffering damage to their heart after contracting the virus.

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