ESPN: Michigan-Ohio State football game called off due to COVID-19 cases with Wolverines

Donate To GopherHole
This was an extremely predictable outcome. You could see this from a mile away weeks ago
 

Plato said:
Pretending that a pandemic was not going to disrupt everything in American life except sports threatened the pocket books of ADs around the country, upset players, fans who seemed to have no other lives, and the TV networks.
Magical thinking was not confined to the White House.
If IN wins out and NW wins the West the rules should not be changed to cheat IN and reward tOSU.
If that means tOSU doesn't get to the CFC too bad, how sad.
Click to expand...

The CFP is not obligated to take the Big Ten champion. If they think OSU is one of the four best teams based on the eye test, and it always is, then they will get in regardless unless they also have a minimum game requirement (I don’t know). Beating Northwestern in a title game probably isn’t going to move the needle a huge amount in the eyes of the CFP. I haven’t followed the CFP machinations this year due to being busy with real life but time will tell if the lack of games outweighs the eye test. I don’t know, but I won’t be surprised if OSU makes the cut for a number of reasons, unless restricted by rule.

Who knows, maybe if they get in the resulting uproar will result in the playoff field finally be expanded to eight. Everybody wins, except some sad sack second tier SEC team.
 

I agree with those that have said the CFP could still take OSU even if they don't play in the B1G championship. And that OSU beating IA/WI vs. NW doesn't really do much. Maybe beating IA/WI even carries more weight nationally that beating NW. So in that sense, stick to the original rules.

Also, as has been discussed before, B1G champions do not necessarily need to be divisional champions (e.g. 2012). So we could end up with IU as B1G champ, OSU as East champ, & NW as West champ, which again gives OSU ammunition for the CFP.
 

So if Indiana can't play on the 19th due to COVID will the MSU/PSU winner go to Indy?
 

Is this how the Big Ten ends? OSU gets mad, so it leaves, which destroys the league.
 



MaxyJR1 said:
So if Indiana can't play on the 19th due to COVID will the MSU/PSU winner go to Indy?
Click to expand...

Better question would be when will Hoosier and Boilermaker fans start screaming "the Old Oaken Bucket needs to be played! It's the only game that matters!"

"Indiana University announced on Tuesday that it paused all team-related activities after a series of positive COVID-19 tests within the program.

The team did not practice on Tuesday while all Tier 1 staff and coaches went through PCR testing.

"The health and safety of our students, coaches and staff is paramount," IU athletics director Scott Dolson said in a news release. "In consultation with our medical experts, we decided this is the appropriate decision at this time. We will continue to assess the situation moving forward."

Purdue also canceled practice early on Tuesday to evaluate COVID-19 results.

No decision has been made at this point about whether the this weekend’s Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game will be played. If it is canceled, this would be the first time in more than 100 years the Big Ten matchup was not played.

https://www.si.com/college/2020/12/...auses-team-activities-positive-covid-19-tests
 

MaxyJR1 said:
So if Indiana can't play on the 19th due to COVID will the MSU/PSU winner go to Indy?
Click to expand...
Or it gets cancelled and the B1G goes without declaring a champion, like basketball.
 




Iceland12 said:
Better question would be when will Hoosier and Boilermaker fans start screaming "the Old Oaken Bucket needs to be played! It's the only game that matters!"

"Indiana University announced on Tuesday that it paused all team-related activities after a series of positive COVID-19 tests within the program.

The team did not practice on Tuesday while all Tier 1 staff and coaches went through PCR testing.

"The health and safety of our students, coaches and staff is paramount," IU athletics director Scott Dolson said in a news release. "In consultation with our medical experts, we decided this is the appropriate decision at this time. We will continue to assess the situation moving forward."

Purdue also canceled practice early on Tuesday to evaluate COVID-19 results.

No decision has been made at this point about whether the this weekend’s Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game will be played. If it is canceled, this would be the first time in more than 100 years the Big Ten matchup was not played.

https://www.si.com/college/2020/12/...auses-team-activities-positive-covid-19-tests
Click to expand...
They should just change championship week to rivalry week.
 


Nokomis said:
Or it gets cancelled and the B1G goes without declaring a champion, like basketball.
Click to expand...

Would guess that's there's way more money being paid out for the Big Ten Football Championship then the Basketball one. Probably because the Basketball Championship has little, if often no, influence on the Tourney.

This time the TV money is far more important to the Big Ten after what's happened this Fall.
 

Gopherguy0723 said:
Is this how the Big Ten ends? OSU gets mad, so it leaves, which destroys the league.
Click to expand...
Honestly, without Ohio State the big ten would still probably be the 4th best FBS conference, would still command a large TV deal. It might be better for second tier schools within the conference if Ohio state left.
 



MaxyJR1 said:
So if Indiana can't play on the 19th due to COVID will the MSU/PSU winner go to Indy?
Click to expand...
Oh man, that's a delicious possibility. This is the kind of thinking I come to GH for!
 

Looks like B1G is having a vote today and the rational is that even if tOSU had played and lost to Michigan this weekend, they would have won the head-to-head over Indiana. Vote will be interesting. There is no reason to not allow tOSU in title game.
 


OSU is not going to leave the B1G. Lol! That would cost them $$$$$.

They will change the rules, because it helps the league to not screw over the best team.
 

OSU doesn't need to play in the B1G title game to get to the CFP. BTW, this would be a great year to do a one-time expansion of the CFP to 8 teams. The bowl situation is a mess. Having an 8 team playoff would make sense this year.
 

Livingat45north said:
OSU doesn't need to play in the B1G title game to get to the CFP. BTW, this would be a great year to do a one-time expansion of the CFP to 8 teams. The bowl situation is a mess. Having an 8 team playoff would make sense this year.
Click to expand...
Disagree

this would be a great year to shrink it to 1 game so the playoff is less likely to have Covid issues
 

Otis said:
OSU is not going to leave the B1G. Lol! That would cost them $$$$$.

They will change the rules, because it helps the league to not screw over the best team.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Well mostly. They're doing it 'cuz it's the best option and because it could make a lot of money for the Big Ten as a whole.

Unlike some other Conferences the Big Ten shares revenue. Should Ohio State get in the CFP the Big Ten schools stand to receive millions. Think there is even more money if they win it all. Though not sure of that.

That said, uh, Go Buckeyes?
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Looks like B1G is having a vote today and the rational is that even if tOSU had played and lost to Michigan this weekend, they would have won the head-to-head over Indiana. Vote will be interesting. There is no reason to not allow tOSU in title game.
Click to expand...
what was the point of the 6 gm minimum then? they failed to ensure their opponents weren't adversely affected by Covid... why create a stupid rule only to change it? this is so dumb by the conference
 

saintpauljeff said:
what was the point of the 6 gm minimum then?
Click to expand...
Noble goal? I guess the only thing we've learned about 2020 is that you should be ready for changes.
I think it would be silly to not let OSU be in the title game though because of some arbitrary minimum number of games they decided on. I doubt they envisioned this many games getting canceled when they made that rule.
 

As Gopher fans we need OSU in the conference because they stop uw most of the time.
 

Nokomis said:
They should just change championship week to rivalry week.
Click to expand...
Just have Indiana and OSU play again next week. NW blew their chance and this is hardly a "championship game" no matter what they call it.
 

Word said:
Noble goal? I guess the only thing we've learned about 2020 is that you should be ready for changes.
I think it would be silly to not let OSU be in the title game though because of some arbitrary minimum number of games they decided on. I doubt they envisioned this many games getting canceled when they made that rule.
Click to expand...
I agree, the rules should have allowed more flexibility. It's really about bigger audience for the title game, money, and being able to say the tOSU was the champ and earned it on the field. They will guarantee the playoffs at 6-0 for the BIG Ten.

Still 10 days to title game and COVID will still find a way to create more impact I'm sure.
 


I think you could draw a distinction between games that were missed because your team had covid and games that were missed because the other team had covid.

If Michigan can't play, that is not OSU's "fault."

so, working off that logic, the 6-game rule should not punish a team that could not play because the other team called the game off. OSU was ready to play - the other team said no.

(disclaimer - offering this as an intellectual exercise to see if I can predict the rationale the B1G will use to justify changing its rules to help OSU when they would not change the rules to help Nebraska.)
 

Dodd's got an article on CBS Sports saying that the Big Ten must choose integrity or profit. Pretty sure they already chose profit by bringing PSU (and those that followed) in a quarter century ago.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Dodd's got an article on CBS Sports saying that the Big Ten must choose integrity or profit. Pretty sure they already chose profit by bringing PSU (and those that followed) in a quarter century ago.
Click to expand...
This is dumb. They are choosing both. They held tight on not rescheduling any games, they didn't allow any teams to play outside the conference, they are fixing the scenario that they hoped would not happen, and they are putting the top ranked undefeated team in the Title Game. I think that is integrity and smart business.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom