Ohio State Football still hopes to play Michigan State

After Saturday’s game vs. Illinois was canceled due to positive cases within the Ohio State football program, OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith and Head Coach Ryan Day are still hopeful their Dec. 5th match-up with Michigan State can still happen.

Saturday morning, Gene Smith, Ryan Day, and Ohio State team physician Jim Borchers held a press conference to address the COVID-19 concerns within the program. The team did not meet the Big Ten’s threshold of positivity rates that would require the game to be canceled, but Gene Smith said it would be the best thing to do, saying “Could we have played? Sure. Was it the right thing to play? No.”

The positivity rate between the student-athletes and staff was 7.5%, a rate high enough to make program leaders worry about further potential spread “The positivity rate was concerning enough that we felt we needed to find a way to mitigate the spread” said Gene Smith on Saturday.

Not only was the game vs. Illinois canceled, but all football operations are now on pause. Those who have tested positive, including Ryan Day, will be in isolation, and all practices and in-person team meetings are canceled until further notice.

Gene Smith and Ryan Day still believe their team could play Michigan State next weekend, however. Day believes if OSU can get one “good, hard practice” in this week, they will be ready for MSU. Smith says the primary focus is on giving those who have tested positive the resources they need, and to find a way to play the Spartans, saying there is “a chance to compete next weekend”.

In all likelihood, if one more Ohio State game is canceled, the Buckeyes would be ineligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. If worse comes to worst and the two remaining regular-season games against MSU and Michigan do get canceled, OSU’s lone remaining game would then be the second-place B1G game, likely against Wisconsin.

Would 5-0 be enough to put the Buckeyes in the playoff? That is a hypothetical question no one will know the answer to until the CFP Selection show on December 20.

Our thoughts are with the players and coaches who are battling COVID-19, and we wish them a speedy and healthy recovery. We will post updates as they come.