Ohio State Football: Michigan game in serious jeopardy

Two Ohio State football games have already been canceled this season, and the December 12th match up with their archrival Michigan is now in serious jeopardy.

Last weekend, the Ohio State athletic department made the decision to cancel the Buckeyes’ game against Illinois, despite not eclipsing the Big Ten’s positivity rate that would require cancelation. Athletic Director Gene Smith said it would be the safest thing to do, as there were a significant number of positive cases within the football program.

After OSU’s week four matchup with Maryland was also canceled, the Buckeyes are now just one cancelation away from being ineligible for the Big Ten Championship Game, which requires a minimum of six games to compete for the conference title. In other words, Ohio State has to play their remaining regular-season games against Michigan State and Michigan.

The good news is, Ohio State seems to be preparing for Michigan State and is very hopeful a game will take place this weekend. Now the bad news- Michigan is reportedly canceling this weekend’s game against Maryland due to COVID-19 issues within the Wolverines program.

Current Big Ten protocols require athletes who test positive for COVID-19 to sit out for 21 days, despite the CDC changing their protocol to a 10-day quarantine. This now puts the Ohio State-Michigan game in tremendous jeopardy.

If OSU and Michigan can not play each other, not only does that prevent Ohio State from playing for their fourth consecutive Big Ten title, but could certainly impact their playoff odds.

The Buckeyes are currently ranked 4th in the College Football Playoff Poll, would five or six games be enough of a sample size for the committee to put Ohio State in the playoff over teams like Texas A&M or Florida who have already played at least seven games each?

ESPN College Football Analyst, and former Buckeye QB, Kirk Herbstreit, thinks Michigan may “wave the white flag” and avoid playing Ohio State, suggesting many programs have canceled games this season to avoid getting blown-out by superior opponents. Fox Sports Analyst Joel Klatt also said coaches have told him the same thing.

The rivalry is important to both sides. Of course, the Buckeyes have enjoyed the last two decades of dominance over their rival, but if possible both teams will try to play each other on December 12. Keep in mind, Ohio State could have played Illinois last weekend, but decided it would be safer to cancel the game.

Michigan canceling would be doing the same thing Ohio State did, so before making any accusations of the Wolverines intentionally “waving the white flag”, consider the reasoning, and remember that Ohio State has made the same decision this season.

For what it’s worth, Ohio State could still potentially find a different opponent for December 12, if Michigan is unable to play. If another Big Ten team has to cancel a game against a healthy opponent, the Buckeyes could then play that team instead. Obviously Michigan would have to cancel early in the week, allowing OSU ample time to find an opponent and possibly travel, for that to happen.

We will keep updates coming with any potential cancelation news regarding any of Ohio State’s potential three remaining Big Ten games.