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Back-to-back losses before its Big Ten Week 4 matchup against Wisconsin is far from what people predicted about Michigan football’s 2020 season.
Last week’s 38-21 loss to Indiana was the dagger in any postseason championship hopes for the Wolverines. With the season now about being underdogs, they are huge underdogs as they take on the Wisconsin Badgers this week.
Michigan is coming in 1-2 and looking to rebound with a big upset against the Badgers. Wisconsin is 1-0 and hasn’t been able to play its last two games due to COVID-19. Wisconsin impressed in its first game. Backup quarterback Graham Mertz made a statement with five touchdowns against Illinois.
There is a great deal to talk about concerning the two teams. Both have had a bumpy and unexpected road so far in the 2020 season. What are the three biggest things to focus on Saturday night?
1. Will a game even be played?
The biggest question that needs to be discussed is will Michigan actually play Wisconsin? Wisconsin had a huge COVID-19 outbreak two weeks ago with 12 players testing positive. The game against Nebraska was canceled. The week after, the situation grew worse for the Badgers: 27 tests came back positive. The game against Purdue was also canceled.
The Big Ten’s schedule left no room for error, so if you missed a game, you can’t reschedule it because the last week of play is the day before the College Football Playoff final rankings are revealed. With the shortened season, missing games can hurt your chances of making the playoffs, especially if you have played as well as Wisconsin did in its season opener against Illinois.
If Wisconsin can reduce its cases, then this week’s game should stand. Wisconsin missing two games has already hurt the team and missing a third could make the Big Ten West division championship hard to figure out. This season’s divisional championships will be decided by a winning percentage instead of record unless there is an unbalance with scheduling due to games getting canceled due to COVID-19. With Wisconsin already missing two games, missing a third will make that more challenging.