Big Ten screwed Ohio State out of Big Ten championship

Ohio State is getting hosed by the Big Ten.

Ohio State had their annual rivalry game vs. Michigan canceled due to virus issues leaving the Wolverines without 45 players and the Buckeyes in limbo. With the game canceled, the Buckeyes won’t meet the six-game minimum requirement established by the Big Ten in order to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game.

The Buckeyes are in first place in the Big Ten East but as it currently stands would see Indiana, who lost to Ohio State, represent the East in the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern because they’ve met the threshold for games played.

Of course, this makes no sense and the rule should be changed.

The Big Ten needs to make it right for Ohio State

Additionally, Ohio State should be allowed to schedule a last-minute opponent to get to the arbitrary minimum.

However, as Pete Thamel of Yahoo reports, no Big Ten teams have been asked to move games and there would be resistance to do so due to a lack of preparation. That, of course, didn’t seem to be an issue for BYU and Coastal Carolina who scheduled a game on Thursday morning and delivered one of the games of the year on Saturday night.

With Indiana having their game against Purdue called off in all likelihood after Purdue had to pause team activities and Nebraska potentially unable to play a virus-affected Minnesota program, there are two golden opportunities for a make-up game.

And since both teams already played Ohio State earlier in the year, the lack of a full week of preparation is limited because of the familiarity between the two programs.

It makes too much sense for Ohio State to play one of those two opponents if their original plans fall through.

The Big Ten needs Ohio State to make the playoff and not playing in the Big Ten Championship isn’t a disqualifier to make the playoff, it reduces their chances of improving upon their resume.

The Big Ten needs to make this right and either change the rules or find a way to allow Ohio State to play a team, whether it’s from the Big Ten or outside, perhaps Texas A&M who had their game with Ole Miss canceled.

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