It's been a strange College Football season to say the least. Conferences were playing, then they were not, oh but then they were again. Teams having to take extended breaks midseason for COVID outbreaks.
But they made it through and now bowl season is upon us.
Well, not all of us.
Nebraska, Michigan State and Minnesota have all declined Bowl invites this season, even after the committee waived its "6 wins needed" rule for this season.
"Our players made great sacrifices this fall to allow us to play eight games and practice without disruption throughout the season," said Nebraska head coach Scott Frost in a statement. "As their head coach I am proud of how they continued to fight and finished the season with a win on Friday. This year has been a long grind and it is time for our guys to have a break, and the opportunity to spend Christmas and the holiday season with their family and friends. We will turn our focus to the 2021 season, and we look forward to our players returning to campus for the spring semester in January."
Nebraska was one of the teams across the nation that always hoped they could play, because of that they kept their players on campus even when campuses all over the country were shutting down.
Nebraska pushed hard to have a season and was rewarded for their efforts when the Big10 reversed its decision and let the teams play.
"We have decided as a program that the best decision for our team is to prepare for the 2021 season, I'm proud of the players for the way they handled themselves during this difficult and challenging year. They endured a season unlike any we have had before and worked hard to remain diligent in following all of our safety protocols. Our players have been on campus since re-arriving in June and deserve the chance to go home and take some time away from football."
Those were from Michigan State Head Coach Mel Tucker.
Michigan State finished the season 2-5. Their only wins coming against Michigan and Northwestern.
Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck has this to say:
"The health and safety of our student-athletes has always been our first priority, They invested a tremendous amount of physical and mental energy into competing in the Big Ten season this year and proudly represented Minnesota. The season was filled with daily off-field adversity caused by the pandemic, but their desire to play never wavered and they sacrificed so much in their personal lives to be able to compete in the Maroon and Gold this year. Right now, our focus is strictly on their well-being off the field, and we look forward to them being able to responsibly spend some of the remaining holiday season with family and loved ones. We will return our attention to football when everyone is back on campus in mid-January."
Minnesota finishes 3-3 on the season with 2 games cancelled due to a COVID outbreak.