While discussions of To Play Or Not To Play reached Shakespearean levels of oratory, the answer to whether or not there would be college football came down to a different historical figure.

It took a Solomonesque decision to choose the right path. In the end, the Big Ten punted football and all fall sports to spring.

No one wanted to see football spark fresh outbreaks of the virus, but the COVID-19 pandemic is still ravaging the planet, with more than 20 million cases counted and more than 730,000 deaths totaled.

Football is the ultimate contact sport. The line of scrimmage may be a DMZ,  but when each play begins inemen breathe on one another, then shove one another.

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As Sunday passed into Monday and Monday passed into Tuesday, the Big Ten and other heavily invested (in passion and dollars) leagues huddled amongst themselves trying to determine the right thing to do.

News outlets reported 14 Big Ten presidents and chancellors voted 12-2 Sunday to tamper with the seasons, then made no announcement until Tuesday afternoon.

There will be no fall football in the Big Ten for the first time in 125 years. Not everyone is satisfied. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said the games should go on. Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Nebraska coach Scott Frost — not displaying faith in their schools’ leadership — said they are willing to play anyone, Big Ten-affiliated or not.

Indiana coach Tom Allen maintained a calmer equilibrium.

"I have coach in front of my name, not doctor," said Allen, a day earlier.

A movement had just begun across on social media across conference lines with prominent players around the country chiming in, saying they wanted to play.

As Big Ten academic leaders mulled halting play, however, the Mountain West declared it was putting off all fall sports and individual schools such as Old Dominion and the University of Massachusetts announced they will not play.

"I am heartbroken by today’s news," said IU vice president and athletic director and Scott Dolson following the Big Ten announcement. "As a lifelong Hoosier, and IU sports fan, I am disappointed that we won’t be able to enjoy seeing our teams compete, but I am most devastated for our students. But as difficult as it is to absorb, I am confident it is the right decision."

Football amidst the autumn leaves of 2020 is disappearing fast. National Football League teams, including the Indianapolis Colts, are in training camps preparing for a season to start in mid-September.

High school teams, including Seymour and Brownstown, are practicing, planning to open seasons Aug. 21. Although many states have delayed the start of fall high school sports, the Indiana High School Athletic Association has not.

The NCAA already declared there will be no championships contested at Division II and Division III and now the biggest conferences are joining them on the sidelines.

Nothing has truly quelled the spread of the virus since March, not social distancing or wearing masks, or in the case of Major League Baseball, banning fans from the ballpark. Only by operating in isolated bubbles have the NBA in Orlando and the NHL in Edmonton and Toronto contained the disease.

The National Hockey League monitored 52 people per team, players, coaches, administrators between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8 and oversaw 7,703 tests with no positives after a prior stretch of 6,874 tests with two positives.

IU football was shut down temporarily because of positive tests in July. One Hoosier player, lineman Brady Feeney, went public about the heart difficulties following his bout with the virus. The freshman from St. Louis, who has been cleared to play, but also said he wanted to be certain it is safe to do so.

That was despite the Hoosiers following strict protocols for different stages of conditioning and practice over recent weeks, some conducted long distance, more recently in person. IU was four days into fall practice in preparation for a Sept. 4 opener against Wisconsin when Allen spoke.

Safety first was the motto Allen expressed many times over recent weeks and safety is what the Big Ten chose.

Compared to some other Big Ten football coaches, Allen sounded like the second coming of Dr. Anthony Fauci in weighing prudence. IU was doing "what the medical experts are telling us they want us to do," Allen said. "As long as the doctors say we can do it, we’ll do it."

Now, listening to doctors, presidents, chancellors, and his conference, are telling IU and Allen they cannot play football now.