Wisconsin-Minnesota canceled due to COVID: Badgers eliminated from Big Ten championship consideration

Wisconsin will not play against Minnesota, ending their Big Ten title hopes.

The best thing Paul Chryst, breakout quarterback Graham Mertz, and Wisconsin could’ve done to recover from a bitter loss against Northwestern was to pound P.J. Fleck and Minnesota and remain on track for a Big Ten championship game against, in all likelihood, Ohio State. However, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the Big Ten, and the Badgers’ postseason plans have been ruined because of it.

Minnesota’s COVID-19 issues have forced their contest with Wisconsin to be postponed. Given the lack of games on Wisconsin’s schedule, one of the Big Ten’s best is unfortunately not going to be eligible to play in the Big Ten championship game.

Wisconsin is not eligible for the Big Ten championship

This announcement is simply crushing for the Badgers, as they are still licking their wounds from Peyton Ramsey and the Wildcats destroying them. Northwestern now needs to win just one of three games in order to end up in the conference title game for the second time in three seasons, when Dwayne Haskins and the Buckeyes demolished them. Considering neither, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Illinois have a winning record, things are looking good for Pat Fitzgerald.

Minnesota says it had nine players and six staff members test positive in the last five days, with “additional presumptive positive tests today” awaiting confirmation. The Gophers are hoping that they can return to play on Dec. 5 against Northwestern. The battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe, which had been played every year since 1907 — the longest active streak in college football — will have to wait until 2021 to be renewed.

As excellent as Mertz has been this season and as good as the Badgers have looked, Northwestern game notwithstanding, they will not be able to prove their quality on a national stage. Hopefully, a 2021 season not affected by a pandemic will be a batter showcase for Chryst and Wisconsin.

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