Washington D.C. has become involved with Big Ten football in the past week. Democrat nominee Joe Biden’s campaign took out targeted ad buys in Midwestern states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin saying President Donald Trump is to blame for the cancellation of the fall season. That prompted the president to speak with Commissioner Kevin Warren, where he stressed that football should not be at the heart of the political debate, and the conference needs to be playing. That has moved the ball forward on a fall season. The Dan Patrick radio show is reporting that the Big Ten is eyeing a restart in early October now, up from around Thanksgiving just last week, and early January the week before.

For the conference to change course, it must get 60 percent of the member schools’ presidents on board. The vote to cancel fall sports was 11-3 last month, with only Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio State opting against the idea. Nine votes are needed, so any plan to kick off in October would need to see six presidents switch. Restart proponents will heavily court the University of Wisconsin.