The Wisconsin football program can not seem to get control of the COVID outbreak it’s currently battling. After the Badgers’ matchup with Nebraska was canceled last week with six players and six staff members testing positive, their game scheduled for this Saturday against Purdue has also been canceled with 27 active cases in the program.
Nov. 3 Update: https://t.co/ISNJ9K6fhZ pic.twitter.com/ujSUmKAjKo
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) November 3, 2020
Team activities have been paused since October 28 and will remain that way as positive test numbers seem to be going in the wrong direction.
According to the school’s announcement, they saw a total of 21 positive tests between October 27 and November 2.
There have been five (two staff and three student-athletes) positive COVID-19 PCR tests recorded since Saturday, Oct. 31. Over the last seven days (Oct. 27-Nov. 2), student-athletes (10) and staff (11) have registered a total of 21 positive tests. There are currently 27 active cases in the program, all since Saturday, Oct. 24. That includes 15 football student-athletes and 12 staff members.
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. Plus, with the conference canceling football season then backtracking so late, their newly designed eight-game schedule does not allow for any games to be rescheduled.
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. Wisconsin, who won its season opener 45-7 over Illinois on October 23, can not suffer another canceled game in order to be eligible for the Big Ten title game.