Ohio State's Ryan Day campaigns for eight-game Big Ten schedule starting in January

Ohio State coach Ryan Day isn't giving up on his team playing a 2020 college football schedule, even if doing so means pushing the kickoff of the campaign to January 2021.

Per Ben Axelrod of WKYC, Day spoke with reporters via a Zoom conference call one day after the Big Ten postponed football and other fall sports due to the coronavirus pandemic. Day campaigned for an eight-game, conference-only Big Ten schedule that, under his plan, would begin immediately after the new year.

"We've got to start it as soon as we can," Day said. "I think starting the first week of January would be the way to go."

Theoretically, holding a shortened season so early in the year would allow Ohio State and other Big Ten programs to prepare for a standard fall 2021 season, assuming one will be possible. A winter-to-early-spring slate would also provide players with final opportunities to impress would-be NFL suitors.

"I think it's our job and we owe it to these guys to make sure that we put the schedule and put the plan [together] quickly here," Day explained.

Before the Big Ten made its expected official announcement on Tuesday, Day, Penn State coach James Franklin and Nebraska's Scott Frost all suggested they'd look to play this fall however possible, including going outside the conference.

As noted by Joey Kaufman of The Columbus Dispatch, Day wouldn't rule out playing against interested Big Ten parties or anybody else who'd be willing to face the Buckeyes this fall.