Big Ten would allow teams to schedule matches against each other if both have opponent-canceled games in the same week



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If another Big Ten game had been called off this week, Ohio State could have played this weekend.

According to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, the Big Ten presidents approved a process earlier this month that will allow conference teams to schedule a new game against each other if both of their games are called off by their opponent due to of COVID-19 issues the same week, provided those two teams do not deal with COVID-19 outbreaks on their own and the new match can be scheduled by Wednesday of this week.

According to Dinich, the teams would be allowed to schedule a new game against each other even if they have already played earlier in the season or are scheduled to play later in the season.

Dinich’s report comes after the Pac-12 announced Friday that California and UCLA would play Sunday at noon after their games that were originally scheduled to be played on Saturday were called off due to COVID-19 outbreaks in the ‘State of Arizona and Utah.

The Big Ten does not allow teams to replace canceled games with non-conference games, which prevented the state of Ohio from scheduling a new game for this weekend after its scheduled game against Maryland has was canceled Wednesday due to eight positive COVID-19 tests in Maryland football. program. Ryan Day said Thursday that he would have been in favor of playing a game against a new opponent this weekend had the Big Ten allowed the Buckeyes to do so.

“It’s hard to look your team in the eye and tell them they can’t play when they’ve done everything you’ve asked them to do,” Day said on the Dan Patrick Show. “I know it’s not as easy as just saying, ‘Let’s just schedule a game. There are a lot of different implications and things that have to come into play, so I totally respect that. But would definitely be in favor of trying to find a way to do it. But I also understand the complexity of it all.

The Big Ten are surely hoping that they don’t need to schedule new games as more than one team cannot play in the same week. But after a week in which 15 college football games were canceled or postponed due to COVID-19 spikes across the country, that flexibility – albeit flexibility that will only benefit teams if there is another conference team that needs a new game the same week – might be needed for the Big Ten to play as many games as possible over the next four weeks in a season that has already been drastically shortened.



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