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What’s next for Ohio State football after Michigan cancelation?

By Patrick Schmidt

Ohio State coach Ryan Day is in self-isolation and his team is dealing with a surge in positive COVID-19 tests, putting the Buckeyes' bid for a national championship in jeopardy.Dominant art
Ohio State coach Ryan Day is in self-isolation and his team is dealing with a surge in positive COVID-19 tests, putting the Buckeyes' bid for a national championship in jeopardy.Dominant art /
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With Ohio State and Michigan canceled, what’s next for the Buckeyes and how does it affect their College Football Playoff hopes?

The Game is off.

Michigan and Ohio State will not play their annual rivalry game for the first time since the rivalry game didn’t play from 1913-1917 due to a virus outbreak within the Wolverines program. Michigan football will be without 45 players due to COVID cases, contact tracing and injuries, according to Bruce Feldman of FOX and The Athletic.

While it’s a big disappointment for both programs and their fans, the biggest question outside of the health and well-being of those affected by the virus in Ann Arbor is what it means for Ohio State moving forward.

What Michigan game cancelation means for Ohio State moving forward

  1. Ohio State is now going to fall below the Big Ten’s minimum game requirement of six games needed to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. Despite being in first place, the Buckeyes need to get another game scheduled to qualify.
  2. Ohio State could schedule a rematch with either Indiana who won’t play Purdue this weekend after virus issues shut the Boilermakers down. Or a rematch with Nebraska who is scheduled to play a Minnesota program who may not be able to play due to virus issues of their own.
  3. Ohio State could also try to schedule a quasi-College Football Playoff play-in game between Texas A&M who had their game vs. Ole Miss called off due to virus issues within the Rebels program.
  4. That said, the Big Ten athletic directors could change the minimum game’s rule to allow for Ohio State to play Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 19 and nullify the above three points.
  5. The most likely scenario is Ohio State attempts to schedule a game with Nebraska or Indiana to meet the six-game requirement just in case the Big Ten doesn’t change the rule. However, because Ohio State is the cash cow and doesn’t want to risk them being left out of the playoff because of only playing five games, they’ll fix the rule so the Buckeyes can play for a Big Ten title and get another game for the playoff committee to evaluate them.
  6. If the Big Ten doesn’t change the rule and Ohio State can’t schedule a game, they’ll still play Wisconsin on Dec. 19, which may be a better strength of opponent than Northwestern would anyway and still impress the playoff committee.
  7. Ohio State doesn’t need a Big Ten title to make the playoff which doesn’t have a minimum games rule. But they’d really like to win the Big Ten and make the playoff.

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