By now, you are fully aware that we won’t be able to watch the artistry of college football that is the Ohio State vs. Michigan game. It has been officially canceled because of rising positive coronavirus results within the Wolverine program, and it means the Buckeyes will be idle this week unless there is a shell game of sorts that can somehow get OSU into another game at the eleventh hour.
If not, it’s going to be up to the Big Ten to change the policy of a team needing to play six games to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game.
On that note, the Big Ten released a statement acknowledging the cancellation and what it means going forward. I would take it as an encouraging sign, with the knowledge that there’s still some work to do with the conference’s athletic directors and other suits.
From the Big Ten:
“We are aware of the cancellation of the football game between the University of Michigan and The Ohio State University this weekend.”
“The decision was made today by the University of Michigan because of an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and student-athletes in quarantine over the past week. Michigan made its determination after conversations with medical experts, health department officials, and university administration.”
“We are in unprecedented times. The health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans, campuses and the surrounding communities remains the number one priority of the conference and its member institutions.”
“The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is one of the most important rivalries in all of sports. The conference shares the disappointment of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, partners and fans. The conference is committed to transparency and will continue to collaborate with its member institution stakeholders to determine Big Ten Football Championship Game participation requirements as well as tiebreakers.”
#B1G statement on the cancellation of the @UMichFootball vs. @OhioStateFB football game this weekend.
⁰➡️ https://t.co/Ow4fiohWDD pic.twitter.com/JShfshSJoa
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) December 8, 2020
I would stay tuned on this. It sure sounds like the conference is going to try and make this right for the benefit of its best team to have a shot to play in the Big Ten Championship Game, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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