Ohio State and Michigan have played each other every year in what’s known as The Game since 1918. But not this year, as the 2020 college football season struggles to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michigan’s athletics department announced Tuesday that it canceled the rivalry matchup, scheduled for Saturday, because of “an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases and student-athletes in quarantine over the past week”.
Previously, the Wolverines halted all football activities last week and canceled their December 5 game against Maryland because of a coronavirus outbreak, and the Detroit Free Press previously reported that at least a dozen members of the program tested positive.
In a statement, Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel said:
“The number of positive tests has continued to trend in an upward direction over the last seven days. We have not been cleared to participate in practice at this time. Unfortunately, we will not be able to field a team due to COVID-19 positives and the associated quarantining required of close-contact individuals. This decision is disappointing for our team and coaches but their health and safety is paramount, and it will always come first in our decision-making.”
Michigan also noted that it “will continue daily testing with hopes of getting back on the practice field when cleared by medical professionals.”
In addition to obvious concerns about the health and safety of the athletes, staff members and anyone they may come into contact with, the cancellation of the Ohio State-Michigan game has a significantly larger impact on the Buckeyes than the Wolverines.
Currently, Michigan is 2-4 and sitting in fifth place in the Big Ten East. Pandemic-related complications aside, it’s been a particularly brutal season for the Wolverines with college football Twitter frequently roasting coach Jim Harbaugh for continuing to fail to live up to expectations.
Things are a bit different for the Big Ten-leading Buckeyes, who the College Football Playoff committee ranked No. 4 last week and who are currently No. 3 in the AP Poll and No. 4 in the Coaches Poll.
Ohio State is 5-0 after rocking Michigan State last weekend, and it previously had its games against Maryland and Illinois canceled. Now, with the Michigan game off the books, the Buckeyes don’t meet the Big Ten’s six-game threshold to be eligible for the conference championship game. Here’s how the conference explains the current rule:
A team must play at least six games to be considered for participation in the championship game. However, if the average number of conference games played by all teams falls below six, with the average rounded up/down at .50 (i.e. 6.50 or greater would round up to 7, 6.49 or less would round down to 6), then teams must play no less than two fewer conference games than the average number of conference games played by all teams (i.e. four games played if the conference average is six) to be considered.
So far, the average number of games has not dipped below six, so the next-best option for the Buckeyes is to hope the Big Ten alters its requirements to give its highest-ranked team a shot at a conference championship win. If the conference rules remain the same, No. 8 Indiana and No. 15 Northwestern will represent the East and West divisions, respectively, in the Big Ten championship game December 19.
However, the Buckeyes could still finish 6-0 by playing an additional game the same weekend as the conference championship, which teams not contending for a title are expected to do. Plus, as ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported in November, if another Big Ten game is canceled for this weekend, they could schedule a makeup game to replace Michigan.
It's possible we could see more of the scheduling shuffle we saw today in the @pac12. On Nov. 5, @bigten presidents and chancellors approved a process that allows 2 teams w/o COVID issues that have had games cancelled in the same week to play each other. (more)
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) November 14, 2020
But for Ohio State, it’s about more than playing or not playing for the Big Ten title.
The College Football Playoff committee values conference championships and uses them as a factor when deciding which four teams to invite to play for a national title. If Ohio State can’t play for (or win) a Big Ten championship, would the committee really consider selecting a 5-0 team over another program — such as one-loss teams like Texas A&M or Florida — that’s played significantly more games this season?
The simple response here is for the Big Ten to change it’s self-imposed rules so it doesn’t prevent the team with the best shot at the playoff from having an actual chance to make it. Though that potential decisions probably wouldn’t sit well with Hoosiers fans.
Obviously, Ohio State coach Ryan Day was in favor of this requirement being reconsidered. Tuesday not long before Michigan canceled the game, he said, via ESPN:
“If we don’t quite get the game we need to get in the championship game, I think that needs to be looked at hard, just like anybody else in the conference.
“There’s no easy solution in times like this. I know those guys are going to come together and take a hard look at it and make sure it was the right decision.”
That’s all up in the air still. But as ESPN also reported Tuesday:
Big Ten athletic directors will meet Wednesday, according to sources, when they could discuss changing the benchmark.
So the fate of Ohio State’s season is back in the hands of Big Ten administrators.
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