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By trying to play eight games in eight weeks in the midst of a pandemic, leaving no flexibility to postpone and reschedule games, the Big Ten have made it inevitable that some conference teams will play fewer games than others this season.
Sure enough, that’s what happened, as seven Big Ten games have already been called off this season while further cancellations in the last two weeks of the season certainly seem possible. And now, there’s a very real possibility that could keep the best Big Ten team – perhaps the top two Big Ten teams – out of the conference championship game.
The Big Ten were planning unbalanced schedules from the start, as evidenced by the complex tie-breaking system for this year’s Conference Championship game, but the Big Ten East and West representatives in the game could end up being simply decided which teams will play enough matches to still be eligible.
Because the Big Ten have set a six-game minimum to qualify for the conference title game, Wisconsin is already ineligible in the West after canceling three games. Northwestern would still lead the West due to their head-to-head victory over Wisconsin, but Ohio State – now the only undefeated team in the conference – is now just a call off. be ineligible to play in the Big Ten Championship Game, which would deny the Buckeyes the chance to win their fourth consecutive conference title.
With Ohio state facing an increase in COVID-19 cases that forced it to call off its last game against Illinois, and Michigan now facing its own coronavirus issues in the north, the possibility that the Buckeyes will be unable to play one of their last two. regular season games have become a very real concern.
This led to many questions as to whether the six-game minimum to make the Big Ten Championship Game could be reduced. Many Buckeye fans would love to see Ohio state pull its weight and convince the conference to lower that minimum, but Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said those conversations didn’t had not yet taken place on Saturday. While he hasn’t ruled out that he could strike up those conversations over the next couple of weeks, should the Big Ten really change a rule that has been in place all season just to help the state of the? Ohio?
If not, there is another way for teams that play less than six games to become eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. If the average number of games played by teams throughout the conference drops below six, then the new minimum to qualify for the conference title game would become two games less than the average, allowing even a 4-0 Ohio State to represent the East. in the title game of the conference. Because an average over 5.5 would round to six, however, it would require the cancellation of 12 of the Big Ten’s 14 games over the next two weeks.
Realistically, there wouldn’t even be a Big Ten Championship game if the spread of COVID-19 got so bad throughout the conference that only two games could be played in the next two weeks.
This means that even though the state of Ohio only needs one win in its next two games to land a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game as long as it plays them both, don’t playing any of these games will almost certainly prevent the Buckeyes from attending a conference. title in Indianapolis. Whether the Buckeyes play in this game doesn’t necessarily make or break their college football playoff hopes – Ohio State will always have the option of playing someone that week, as long as they’re healthy enough to play, in part of what the Big Ten have dubbed “Champions Week” – but they would certainly prefer to have a chance to defend their conference crown.
Ohio State Conference Championship hopes may hinge on what happens over the next few days, as the Buckeyes hope to continue evading positive tests so they can practice later this week and play in Michigan. State Saturday after players began returning to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for a little – group workouts on Monday.
For now, however, we’re taking a look around the conference where each team ranks in terms of how many regular-season games they could play in 2020 – and how that kept the Big Ten on track, although the season has become progressively more complicated. , for an average of comfortably over six games played per team.
Six teams have already reached six games
The west side of the conference has been hit the hardest by cancellations, with only one team in that division – Iowa – still on track to play all eight games. Northwestern has also played six games already, and with a 5-1 record and a 4-2 win over Iowa already, the Wildcats actually won the Big Ten West when their game that was supposed to be played against Minnesota this week has been canceled. Monday (although it’s still possible that Northwestern could play a full eight-game schedule if another Big Ten team has a game called off by their opponent by Wednesday).
On the east side of the Big Ten, four teams have already reached the six-game benchmark: Indiana (5-1), Michigan (2-4), Penn State (1-5) and Rutgers (2-4). Indiana, with victories over those other three, is the only one of those teams still in the Big Ten Championship Game race. If Michigan is unable to play at Maryland this week after suspending the team’s activities on Monday, it would be the Wolverines’ first cancellation of the year.
Even though he lost to Michigan State last week and his game against Minnesota was called off this week, Northwestern has already done what it takes to win the Big Ten West. (Photo: David Banks – USA TODAY Sports)
Five teams have played five games
Coincidentally, every Big Ten team that has only had one game called off in the first six weeks of the season has a losing record, so even though all must play in just one of the next two weeks to be eligible for the conference championship game, each of them has already been knocked out of contention anyway.
Minnesota (2-3) will play a maximum of six games after canceling their second straight game this week, while Michigan State (2-3) could lose their second game of the year if Ohio State cannot play on Saturday. Purdue (2-3) and Nebraska (1-4) both had games called off by Wisconsin, while Illinois (2-3) saw their first game called off last weekend when the state from Ohio could not make the trip to Champaign.
Buckeyes, Terrapins on the verge of ineligibility
Maryland (2-2) already had to cancel back-to-back games earlier this season, and one of those games was against Ohio State, leaving the Terrapins and Buckeyes in real danger of not being able to play more than five in regular season. games if their games are called off this week – the state of Ohio determining if they can play, while Maryland waits to see if Michigan can play.
While the Terrapins are unlikely to make the Big Ten Championship Game, they are not yet fully released; if Maryland play and win its last two regular season games against Michigan and Rutgers, Ohio state is unable to play one of its last two games and Indiana loses its last two Regular season games against Wisconsin and Purdue, the Terrapins would represent the East in Indianapolis.
Badgers already out
Because Wisconsin had to cancel back-to-back games against Nebraska and Purdue, and then was on the other end of a cancellation against Minnesota last week, the Badgers have only played three games this season. At 2-1, there’s still a chance they could finish with the best winning percentage in the Big Ten West if Northwestern loses another game, but that doesn’t matter – even if the Badgers do beat at both Indiana and Iowa to move to 4-1, they still won’t be eligible for the Big Ten Championship because they only played five regular season games.
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