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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cautious confidence was the order of the day on September 16, when the Big Ten said fall football would return. On that day, according to coronavirus tracking numbers from John Hopkins University, the 7-day moving average of coronavirus cases in Ohio was 1,033.
That hopeful day came just over a month after the Big Ten announced the cancellation of fall sports, including soccer, on August 11. On that disappointing day, the 7-day moving average for the Ohio cases was 1,095.
The 7-day moving average in Ohio on Tuesday was 6,508 cases. The Ohio State game in Maryland was called off on Wednesday, but not because of what was going on in Ohio. The Ohio State football team, without releasing test numbers, has managed to ward off the virus. Proof of this is that the Buckeyes haven’t stopped playing and practicing football since that decision to restart in September.
The problem is that the increase in coronaviruses seen in Ohio is occurring in all of the states that are home to Big Ten football teams. This is happening in all states that host college football teams. It is happening everywhere.
When the Big Ten brought back fall football, with the rigorous daily testing it planned, I think the conference honestly thought they had a chance to get through the season without losing any games. Reality has set in. I always thought that the SEC and ACC, for example, believed more in gambling through players tested positive. The Big Ten seemed more determined to play without players tested positive.
Now Ohio State-Maryland is the third Big Ten game lost in four weeks. Players, parents, coaches and athletic directors wanted a fall season and fought publicly and privately for it. They understood it. The league changed their minds because science opened the door, and almost everyone associated with the conference wanted to play. There is a financial reward to this, with the Big Ten collecting some of their TV money. But the league is losing almost all of its ticket money as the Big Ten play in empty stadiums except for around a thousand friends and family. Other leagues welcome more fans. No major conference is more prudent than the Big Ten.
Ultimately, no league was going through this pandemic season without postponing or canceling matches. There have been 58 games postponed or canceled in 11 weeks.
When I asked Ohio State coach Ryan Day on Thursday if he was surprised to lose a game, he said he was surprised at how quickly the cancellation went was unrolled. The Buckeyes went from preparing for another practice Wednesday afternoon to half an hour after hearing Maryland had canceled it.
“It was like, ‘How did that happen? Day said. “And I guess it’s on me. I shouldn’t be surprised at what is happening now.
Overall, Day said, “We knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
The Big Ten have set a threshold for a number of positive tests in a program that would require a conference-mandated cancellation. Maryland, cautious, fell back before reaching that number, as Wisconsin had done before calling off their Week 2 game. Maryland reported eight players tested positive. Boise State of the Mountain West Conference played Thursday night with nine players testing positive and five others sidelined in search of contracts.
But if the Big Ten returned, it would only return with caution. University of Maryland health officials, in consultation with the league, recommended the cancellation. Day said everyone knew testing standards were one thing, but public health and academia officials would play a role in the decision-making.
“We know it’s not perfect,” Day said. “We understood that coming. But that doesn’t make the crossing easier. It’s difficult. Knowing that it won’t be perfect, but trying to find a way to get there is where we are.”
Eleven major college football games scheduled for this weekend have been postponed or canceled due to positive coronavirus tests or contact tracing associated with those positives. Either too many players on a team have it or too many players were around those who tested positive and are therefore sidelined.
The number of games postponed each weekend has increased. Last week it was 10. The previous week, three. The week before, which was the Big Ten’s first time playing, only two major sports games had been postponed.
The overall ratio is still on the Big Ten side. Ohio State-Maryland is the third conference game canceled, after two games lost due to an epidemic in Wisconsin. The Badgers are back on track to play Michigan on Saturday, and if things hold through the weekend, the Big Ten will have played 25 of 28 games in the first four weeks of their season, a 89 percent success rate.
In the SEC, which began playing on the weekend of September 26, four of the seven games scheduled for that weekend are postponed. This brings the total of eight week deferrals to the SEC to seven, with 43 of the 50 games played on time, a 86 percent success rate.
In the ACC, which began the week of September 12, and unlike the SEC and Big Ten allowed member teams to play a non-conference game, five games were canceled or postponed, including Georgia Tech-Pitt for that. week. But if nothing else changes for this weekend, 66 out of 71 games will have been played as planned, a 93 percent success rate.
So if 86%, 89% or 93% of your games are going as planned, you keep playing. If the SEC starts hitting more weeks after seeing half the schedule erased, then perhaps questions need to be asked. The Pac-12 didn’t start playing until last weekend and lost two of six games in week one. All six games remain on schedule this week. Starting 10 out of 12 would be 83 percent Success.
The Pac-12 and the Big Ten both canceled and then canceled their seasons, started later than the SEC, ACC and Big 12, and as a result lost their wiggle room. Games not played in Big Ten and Pac-12 are canceled. The ACC, SEC and Big 12 games that are not played are only postponed, usually until December, as these conferences started earlier and built weeks of goodbye into the adjustment plan for the games. lost.
But lose too many games and every conference will be at its end.
In deciding to restart, new Ohio State President Kristina Johnson, among others, focused on the idea of a “clean” playground. It was based on the belief that daily testing, including on game mornings, would flag any positive player before close contact with the opposing team during a game. Maryland coach Mike Locksley told reporters Thursday night that, counts held in game day testing, Maryland had a clean playing field while upending Penn State last Saturday.
Then something happened. Locksley, with most of his players in quarantine at a hotel near the Maryland campus until Sunday, said he did not know how the players came to contract the virus. But he said the Terrapins are preparing as if they can play their scheduled game against Michigan State next Saturday.
Optimism remains, mixed now, with current reality.
New Ohio State Face Masks For Sale: Here’s where you can buy Ohio state-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection. A pack of 3 is available on Fanatics for $ 29.99
Fanatics released the Ohio State Buckeyes Adult Face Covers. This 3-pack of adult masks costs $ 29.99.
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