What if Ohio State and Michigan are 7-0 and the game gets canceled?

Because of the lack of wiggle room, Ohio State and the rest of the Big Ten have to be super careful about COVID. But what if both them and TTUN are undefeated going into their matchup and the game is canceled? Who wins the division?

When the Big Ten announced an eight game conference-only season, one thing that stood out was the lack of a bye week. It will be eight straight weeks of football, nine including “Championship Week”.

It’s hard to complain about having Big Ten football every weekend for nine consecutive weeks, but that leaves no room for error if a game cannot be played due to COVID-19. There will be no postponements, just cancellations.

The Big Ten is very strict about the rules in place to ensure the season is played safely, as they should be. If a player tests positive for the virus, they must quarantine for 21 days, potentially a three-game absence.

More importantly, if the team’s positivity rate is 5% or higher, games and practices will be canceled. Players will be tested daily, so it is possible that practices may have to stop at some point in the season if their positivity rate exceeds 5%, but games could be played if that rate decreases.

So let’s imagine a hypothetical situation, it might not be fun to think about, but it’s a harsh reality that this could be possible. Let’s say Ohio State and Michigan are both 7-0 entering their week eight match-up, and the game ends up getting canceled due to COVID-19.

Both teams would have been playing for the Big Ten East Division title, and a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game, and in all likelihood a spot in the College Football Playoff. So, what would happen?

I reached out to Big Ten Assistant Commissioner of Communications Adam Augustine and asked him just that. He got back to me via email saying “We are in the process of finalizing our adjusted tiebreakers for this season to accommodate situations like you mentioned and will have them available prior to the start of the season.” 

I am a bit surprised the Big Ten did not already have a plan in place if something like this happens. The safety protocols are extensive, and their plans with all things regarding the health and safety of players is very detailed, however, the actual scheduling details were not as detailed.

There is not much information out there, from any conference, regarding how a division tiebreaker would be determined. However, there is this from the Big Ten’s official website in regards to what would happen if the Big Ten Championship Game was canceled: “If the two divisional representatives did not meet previously during the season, the team ranked highest in the College Football Playoff poll shall be the representative.” While this is not exactly the same situation, it seems like a similar enough scenario that would lead me to believe this would be the protocol followed.

Long story short, my educated guess on whoever is ranked higher in the College Football Playoff poll would likely be the East Division representative in the Big Ten Championship Game. We look forward to official word from the Big Ten prior to the start of the season.