File this one away in the hopeful department for what’s potentially coming down the pike for Ohio State. If you’ve been anywhere close to the news as of late, the Buckeyes looks to be on track to play against Michigan State on Saturday. However, it’s not all good news.
In the midst of all the efforts to get the Ohio State team back on the field, we also received news that the Michigan Wolverines are experiencing their own issues with a coronavirus outbreak, in effect, placing The Game in jeopardy for the first time since 1918.
That would spell doom for Ohio State’s chances to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game because it would be one short of the mandatory six games needed to fit the policy outlined in the conference’s return to play plan.
But that may not necessarily be a policy set in stone, at least not according to Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez. While speaking to the Detroit News’ Angelique Chengelis. Alvarez says the Big Ten needs to make things right for Ohio State.
“I would think that if something would happen to Ohio State and they’d have to cancel another game that that’s something that we’ve got to revisit,” Alvarez told Chengelis. “They’re sitting up there still ranked No. 4. Our league can’t keep them from having the opportunity if they have a chance to be in the finals.”
Alvarez was then asked if it was a real possibility and something the Big Ten would consider. His answer should make many Buckeye fans excited.
“Yeah, we meet weekly,” Alvarez said. “Those are things we discuss. We may make some adjustments on that last week. That’s sort of a flexible week of scheduling. But those are things we talk about and certainly, you’ve got to consider, or reconsider.”
Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez, who chaired the Big Ten’s return-to-play task force, had interesting comments today about Big Ten possibly having to reconsider its requirements for championship (with OSU in mind) From a conversation w The Detroit News today…. pic.twitter.com/CIKEDxyELI
— angelique (@chengelis) December 2, 2020
Now, the usual pump the brakes disclaimers apply here. This is one man’s opinion. And while a guy like Alvarez has a lot of pull in the Big Ten, you need others on board here too. We simply have no way of knowing where everything stands with the other institutions. And, as we’ve seen, a consensus seems to be the way the conference likes to operate, even if behind closed doors.
We still have to wait to see what happens with this weekend’s game and the one against Michigan, but there does seem to at least be a ray of hope with this whole thing with comments like these.
Stay tuned …
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