The last thing the college football season needed was a revisit to the whole “accusing teams of faking COVID outbreaks” episode, but here we are.
With Alabama and Ohio State set to meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday in Miami, word out of Columbus is already putting the game — at least as scheduled — in doubt.
According to USA TODAY Sports, the Ohio State program is dealing with a COVID outbreak. For now, as The Columbus Dispatch reported, Ohio State plans to move forward and play the national title game on the scheduled Jan. 11 date. That could obviously change as testing continues.
But Nick Saban’s own daughter, Kristen, didn’t wait to voice her skepticism about the Buckeyes’ COVID news.
Nick Saban's daughter, in a tweet she's since deleted, has some thoughts on the championship game.#BYE pic.twitter.com/vAoTgYZBaz
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 5, 2021
In a now-deleted tweet, Saban Setas accused Ohio State of making up a COVID outbreak to push back the title game and give quarterback Justin Fields, who took a nasty hit to the ribs in the Sugar Bowl, time to heal.
Just as Florida State didn’t actually use COVID as an excuse to dodge Clemson, there’s zero indication that Ohio State is using COVID to delay the title game.
According to AL.com, Ohio State’s testing protocols could leave the Buckeyes without an entire position group, which isn’t great.
The CFP had set Jan. 18 as a backup date in case a coronavirus outbreak hit one of the championship teams. We’ll have to see if that comes into play.
