The Northwestern-Minnesota game set for Saturday in Minneapolis is officially canceled

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per the U:

Minnesota Provides COVID-19 Update: Nov. 30

Minnesota Athletics announced today that its Dec. 5 game against Northwestern has been canceled and all team-related activities remain paused. The game will not be rescheduled and will be ruled a no contest, per Big Ten policy this season.

The decision to cancel the game against Northwestern was made by Director of Athletics Mark Coyle, President Joan Gabel and Gopher Athletics’ Medical Director Dr. Brad Nelson after consulting with the Big Ten Conference.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff continues to be our main priority,” said Coyle. “The last couple of days have shown a decrease in positive cases, but not to the point where we are able to return to competition. We are disappointed not to be able to compete against Northwestern on Saturday, but we need to continue to focus on following all CDC and MDH guidelines and slow the spread of the virus. We will now shift our priority to doing everything possible to compete at Nebraska on December 12, and our decisions will continue to be guided by our medical experts.”

In addition to the Big Ten’s established daily antigen testing, Minnesota announced last week that it was implementing additional PCR testing. Minnesota will also conduct all meetings virtually for the remaining duration of the season.

Minnesota first announced a pause in all team-related activities on Nov. 24, after 15 individuals (nine student-athletes and six staff members) tested positive for COVID-19 during a five-day span from Nov. 19 - Nov. 23. The program announced 10 additional positive tests (three student-athletes and seven staff members) on Nov. 25 and an additional 15 positive tests (eight student athletes and seven staff members) on Nov. 28.

Since Nov. 19, the program has experienced 47 positive cases, which includes 21 student-athletes and 26 staff (anyone in daily testing who is not a student-athlete) members.

Athletics is working with MDH on its positive cases and is continuing to follow all CDC and MDH guidelines. Minnesota’s next update will be released on Thursday, Dec. 3.

Go Gophers!!
 



Bummer but not surprising. Does that now clinch the West for NW or do they still need to beat Ill?

Would imagine it also helps OSU somewhat in their murky COVID waters as well
 


Is the B1G anywhere close to having the average games played per team dropping below 5.5?

Edit: Nevermind, I did it myself. The B1G is at 5.14 games per team after 6 weeks. 5 more games need to get played for the hopes of going to Indy at 5-0 or 4-1 to be dashed. Seems unlikely that anyone under 6 games is going to Indy.
 
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whalenfan said:
Most of the cases are in 2 position groups, with the 21 day rule the Nebraska game isnt looking good.
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Thanks. Tough news, but I figured as much last week when it was speculated the OL was hit hard. They all played against PU, so it stands to reason the positive tests didn't come until the weekend or later...meaning the 3 weeks wouldn't end until AFTER the Nebraska game. I'd speculate the other position group is DL since Mafe and Cheney were out against PU, but that's just a shot in the dark. Either way, this is certainly disappointing.
 







GopherPD said:
Sure is a good thing that the Big Ten had a fall football season.
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I think it was, if for no other reason than not having to hear a bunch of what-ifs and imagined perfect outcomes for years to come. Now we know it was a mess.

Plus, Indiana gets to have their day!
 




fmlizard said:
I think it was, if for no other reason than not having to hear a bunch of what-ifs and imagined perfect outcomes for years to come. Now we know it was a mess.

Plus, Indiana gets to have their day!
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Yeah, even with all the issues it has been fun to have college football to watch in the midst of all this. In the end this will be a throw away season for the most part as I don't think it is really wise to read much of anything into the results.

On the plus side, the games played will go a long way in helping our defensive players develop and other young guys get ready to hopefully hit the ground running in the 2021 season.
 



This is what happens when you wait until it's cold to start your season, plus you have a ridiculous 21 day rule.

If they started in September and had the normal 14 day rule, this would look a lot different.
 

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What I find ridiculous is that the B1G lost 30+ dollars this season by not following the BIG 12 and allowing 5000 fans to attend games. Sad
 




STrib editorial board:

https://www.startribune.com/it-s-time-to-shut-down-the-big-ten-football-season/573269531/

It's time to shut down the Big Ten football season

COVID-19 is surging in Big Ten football locker rooms and in the states that the conference's universities serve. Conference officials should cancel what's left of the 2020 season not just to protect student-athletes and staff but to prevent team outbreaks from spreading to the broader community.

This week, the University of Minnesota announced that 47 Gophers football players and staff have tested positive for the virus since Nov. 19, causing the team to cancel a second consecutive game. The number infected is about 30% of the program's personnel. This appears to be the biggest Big Ten football outbreak so far, but that could change rapidly without responsible action by conference officials.

Clearly, the testing, social distancing and "stringent medical protocols" the conference touted to justify resuming play after initially deciding to delay the season are inadequate. There's been only one week since the condensed season's late October start when the virus hasn't forced cancellation of at least one game.

To its credit, the Big Ten put in place more rigorous restrictions than other conferences. But recent remarks made by Gophers coach P.J. Fleck during a radio interview suggest how difficult it is to defend against the virus. Walling off players is not realistic.

"These are student-athletes. They live in dorms. They are around 55,000 other students somehow, some way, even if the class is virtual," Fleck told KFAN.

In an e-mail to an editorial writer, Paul Rovnak, director of communications for Gophers athletics, also stressed the rigor and diligence of the team's infection control efforts. Said Rovnak: "Our recent situation with football is not a result of anyone doing anything wrong. The virus just found a way in."

The pair's comments make a strong case for canceling the rest of the season. No screw-ups are required for a team outbreak to happen. Even the best measures and intentions aren't fail-safe. Given how seriously ill COVID can make people and how much is unknown about its long-term risks — including possible heart damage among athletes — the most responsible course of action is to stop the season.

The Gophers now have just one regular-season game left, plus a Dec. 19 divisional crossover game. Although the Gophers appear to have more COVID cases than the rest of the league's teams, by shutting down the entire conference now and canceling the postseason the Big Ten would send a strong and educational message that the risks vastly outweigh any rewards of playing on.

It's also critical to note that the virus could spread from football programs to the broader communities in which schools are located. The nation is in the midst of an alarming surge of COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The Minnesota Department of Health has "not identified any community cases associated with the Gopher football team, but that doesn't mean we might not in the future," a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Dr. Dan Diekema, director of the division of infectious diseases at University of Iowa College of Medicine, had lauded the conference's August decision to postpone football. When the conference reversed course a month later, he was critical and told NBC News it was not safe to play.

"Nothing has happened since I gave that interview that would change my view — in fact the COVID-19 activity across the Midwest (and in other areas of the country) has worsened considerably, making it even more problematic," Diekema told an editorial writer this week.
 

Pete smith said:
What I find ridiculous is that the B1G lost 30+ dollars this season by not following the BIG 12 and allowing 5000 fans to attend games. Sad
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30+ dollars doesn't fell like a lot to me...unless that + goes to infinity...
 

Pete smith said:
What I find ridiculous is that the B1G lost 30+ dollars this season by not following the BIG 12 and allowing 5000 fans to attend games. Sad
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They were going to charge an average of $96/ticket?
 


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