The Pac-12 and Big Ten both postponed their fall football seasons, but it appears both conferences are at least exploring the possibility of resuming before Jan. 1.

On Thursday afternoon, the Pac-12 announced it had reached an agreement with Quidel Corporation, a COVID-19 testing company that has tests that provide results in as little as 15 minutes.

Per the release below, the Pac-12 hopes to have the tests on all 12 campuses by the end of the month:

https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1301618743873683457

“This is a major step toward the safe resumption of Pac-12 sport competitions,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott in the release. “The availability of a reliable test that can be administered daily, with almost immediate results, addresses one of the key concerns that was expressed by our medical advisory committee, as well as by student-athletes, coaches and others. At the same time, our partnership with Quidel, the industry leader in point-of-care antigen testing, will provide crucial research data that will benefit our members’ communities as well as the entire country.”

Though this is a potentially encouraging sign for starting football prior to Jan. 1, Scott notes that 6 schools — UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford, Oregon and Oregon State — aren’t allowed to practice yet due to their states’ public health guidelines:

If and when the Pac-12 is able to start up again, Scott said he hopes to get going the same time as the Big Ten to preserve postseason rivalries:

This is obviously an encouraging development. We’ll see what happens when the schools get the testing procedures in place.