Ohio State football: Big Ten should learn from Pac-12

The Big Ten continues to be stubborn with this football season and it could cost Ohio State a chance to win a conference title.

Ohio State is clearly the best team in the Big Ten. They have the most talent of anyone in the conference. Even so, the conference might screw them out of being able to play in the Big Ten Championship because of their refusal to be flexible with the schedule.

The Pac-12, meanwhile, has already shown the exact opposite. They have allowed teams that have games canceled due to COVID to schedule another team within their conference. That’s what happened with Cal and Washington last week and they were able to play and make it work.

The Big Ten has shown no such indication and continues to be extremely stubborn. They have not given any teams a chance to do something similar. Ryan Day said last week that he would have loved to have scheduled a non-conference opponent in lieu of Maryland after they canceled.

That would have kept Ohio State from being on the edge of not being able to play for the conference title. If the Buckeyes have one more game canceled due to COVID, they would be down to zero amount of games that can be canceled. They would have no buffer left if that were to happen.

If the Big Ten were to allow teams to schedule someone else, it would allow their best team to have the best chance to make the College Football Playoff. Ohio State wouldn’t be terrified of losing another game at some point this season.

The Buckeyes are on track to play Saturday afternoon, so that is something very good. The team can only control what they can control and only can control their actions to keep them safe from COVID.