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The Big Ten’s 2020 football season is less than a week old, but the conference has already had its first game canceled as a result of COVID-19. The Wisconsin-Nebraska game originally scheduled for Halloween afternoon in Lincoln has been canceled after the Badgers announced that they have paused all team-related activities for at least the next seven days after an elevated number of positive cases.
According to Brett McMurphy, Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst is one of 12 total people within the program (6 athletes, 6 staff members) who have tested positive.
The game between the Cornhuskers and Badgers will not be rescheduled.
Breaking: The Wisconsin football team will pause all team-related activities for at least seven days due to an elevated number of COVID-19 cases within the Badgers program.
Wisconsin's game vs. Nebraska on Saturday will not be played or rescheduled. pic.twitter.com/ZeriXpDnzQ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 28, 2020
The news of the Badgers shutting things down for the next week doesn’t come as a major surprise after both their starting quarterback Graham Mertz and backup quarterback Chase Wolf had tested positive earlier in the week. Wisconsin incumbent starting QB Jack Coan suffered a non-contact injury in the offseason and is out indefinitely, therefore the Badgers were looking at the possibility of starting their fourth-string quarterback on Saturday.
Per the Big Ten’s COVID protocols, if any player does have a confirmed positive test they aren’t allowed to partake in any team activities for 21 days.
This could be the start of a nightmare scenario for the Big Ten. Players testing positive is inevitable and given the conference’s extremely strict protocols, which are lengthier than the CDC’s own guidelines, we could see a number of games canceled in what already is a shortened season for the Big Ten.
Teams are required to play in at least six games this season in order to be eligible to play in the Big Ten Championship game.