Michigan cancels annual showdown with Ohio State because of rising COVID-19 cases
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Citing a rising number of COVID-19 cases in its program, Michigan canceled its annual showdown with Ohio State on Tuesday as college football lurches toward the end of the season without one of its cornerstone rivalry games.
The season-ending grudge match known as "The Game" won’t be played for the first time in 102 years.
"The number of positive tests has continued to trend in an upward direction over the last seven days," Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said. "We have not been cleared to participate in practice at this time. Unfortunately, we will not be able to field a team due to COVID-19 positives and the associated quarantining required of close contact individuals. This decision is disappointing for our team and coaches but their health and safety is paramount, and it will always come first in our decision-making."
If the game had been played, Michigan quarterback Dan Villari might have become the first true freshman in school history to get the first start of his career on the road against Ohio State. Villari, who is from Massapequa and had a storied career at Plainedge High School, was second on the depth chart this week and there was speculation that the 6-4, 227-pounder might get the start because of some uncertainty surrounding the health of junior starter Joe Milton.
The third-ranked Buckeyes played through what coach Ryan Day called a "mini outbreak" last Saturday in a 52-12 win at Michigan State after he was relegated to watching the game from home. Day is among the coaches and players in the program that tested positive for the coronavirus, leading to Ohio State canceling a game at Illinois.
While outbreaks have disrupted more than 100 games across major college football since late August — including this weekend’s regular-season finale between No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 18 Tulsa, who will instead look ahead to their matchup in the Dec. 19 American Athletic Conference title game — the problems with the Wolverines were closely watched in part because the undefeated Buckeyes (5-0) have championship goals again this season.
With two games already canceled, the Buckeyes under current conference rules need a sixth game to be eligible to play for a Big Ten championship Dec. 19 in Indianapolis against Northwestern. Day said the conference should take a "hard look" at allowing Ohio State to play in the conference championship game even with only five games.
"I think [the rule] is one of those things that was put into place early on, and decisions are made based on the information you have at the time and things change, as we know," Day said shortly before Michigan’s announcement. "If we don’t quite get the games we need to get into the championship game, I think that needs to be looked at hard, just like anybody else in the conference."
"The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is one of the most important rivalries in all of sports," the Big Ten said in a statement. "The conference is committed to transparency and will continue to collaborate with its member institution stakeholders to determine Big Ten championship game participation requirements as well as tiebreakers."
The league could decide Ohio State will still represent the East Division at least in part because the conference doesn’t want to hurt the Buckeyes’ chances of earning a playoff berth. Ohio State entered the day No. 4 in the CFP rankings.
The Wolverines canceled last weekend’s game against Maryland because they had at least 12 positive COVID-19 cases within the football program, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. That number had reached 16 by Tuesday.
With Gregg Sarra
