If you haven’t followed Big Ten football this year, which I doubt is the case if you’re reading our work on this site, the 2020 football…
[jwplayer KqiNROJX-er0jUifI]
If you haven’t followed Big Ten football this year, which I doubt is the case if you’re reading our work on this site, the 2020 football season has been anything but smooth.
First, the conference postponed its season in early August and pointed towards playing in the spring, they then reinstated the season in September and came out with an 8-game conference-only schedule, then the Wisconsin Badgers missed their Week 2 and Week 3 games due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program and several other teams have met a similar fate as the season has progressed.
Those teams–Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, Ohio State and now Michigan–in several cases have chosen to suspend football activity before the positive test level within their programs reached the point in the Big Ten’s protocol where activity would be forced to stop.
Related: Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is out for the season
The schools have made decisions to suspend activity and cancel games in order to stay safe and work to contain the outbreak they were dealing with. Thanks to Big Ten rules, they are being punished for doing so.
Part of the season reinstatement were new protocols related to players and coaches testing positive for COVID-19, a six-game requirement for teams to be eligible for the conference championship and more.
It’s the six-game requirement, at this point, that has become a ridiculous rule and must be eliminated before it’s too late.
Related: Former Ohio State HC Urban Meyer has strong thoughts on the Big Ten’s six-game rule
Before I get into it, it must be said that we knew going into the season that even finishing it would be a tremendous accomplishment, though I don’t think anybody foresaw the season unraveling in its final weeks as it has.
But thanks to the conference punishing teams for things that are largely out of their control, they are making the completion of the season and the crowning of a true champion a nearly-impossible task.
First, on COVID-19 outbreaks within programs: Oftentimes teams and organizations are at fault for the numbers of positive tests, but sometimes it is simply out of their control. Maybe you can point to a breach in protocol that led to the outbreak but in some cases, it is just simply due to the fact that this season is being played during a global pandemic.
Go ahead and praise teams who have avoided positive tests since the season began, but it’s too complex of an issue to point to programs who have experienced an outbreak and criticize them for it (unless, obviously, there’s proof of a clear protocol breach that led them to that situation).
Also, take whether you thought this season should even occur in the first place out of the picture for a second.
The Big Ten Conference requiring teams to play six of their eight regular-season games in order to qualify for the conference championship is putting a stain on their season and is punishing programs for things that are out of their control.
First, look at Wisconsin. Even though they lost to Northwestern and sit at 2-1 on the season, the Badgers were eligible for the conference championship until Minnesota experienced a COVID-19 outbreak and had to cancel their game. So, the third canceled game on their schedule–which put them under the six-game threshold–was completely out of their control.
Now, look at Ohio State who currently sits at 4-0 on the season and is ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll. The Buckeyes saw their game against Maryland earlier in the season canceled because the Terrapin program experienced an outbreak. Now, the Buckeyes are in the middle of one of their own which has, at the least, resulted in the cancelation of their contest against Illinois. The Buckeyes, who paused football activity before the Big Ten protocol forced them to do so, now need to play their final two games to qualify for the conference championship.
With Michigan, their December 12 opponent, pausing football activity today and the Buckeyes still dealing with their own outbreak, it doesn’t seem likely that both of those games will be played.
So picture this: Ohio State sees one of their final two games canceled, the Big Ten doesn’t change their rules and the Michael Penix Jr.-less Indiana Hoosiers (who may have 2 or 3 regular-season losses) face off against Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship game.
For a conference that prides itself on integrity and worked so hard to make this season take place, that would be a horrible and easily-avoidable outcome.
It’s this easy: eliminate the six-game requirement and let Ohio State, who is by far the best team in the conference, play in the Big Ten Championship.
Northwestern would still likely make it over Wisconsin (this isn’t just a homer column) and they deserve to do so. But the Big Ten Conference is close to reversing all of the hard work they put into play this fall by letting one small rule punish its best teams for things that are largely out of their control.
Everybody, and even the Big Ten Conference, knew coming into the season that teams would play a different number of games. But where the six-game benchmark came from I don’t know and frankly don’t understand.
To the Big Ten and its leadership: Eliminate the six-game requirement before it’s too late, or the already-tainted season will lose all of the credibility it has left.
