Ohio State Will Not Have a Replacement Game on Saturday

The Buckeyes will next play for the Big Ten Championship on Saturday Dec. 19 against Northwestern.

The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind for Ohio State football and we now have some clarity on what lies ahead.

After Tuesday afternoon's announcement that the Ohio State-Michigan game had been cancelled, the Buckeyes were scrambling to see if they could find a replacement game this weekend. Ohio State has made it clear they are healthy enough to play and didn't want a week off.

Unfortunately, that won't become reality. 

A school spokesman has confirmed to BuckeyesNow on Sports Illustrated that the Buckeyes will not have a game this weekend. Next stop: Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 19 for the Big Ten Championship Game against Northwestern. That game is scheduled to kick off at 12 noon and will be televised on FOX.

On Wednesday evening, Ryan Day thanked the Big Ten in his first public comments since the league's decision.

Ohio State (5-0) is officially in the title game thanks to a rule changed made official by the Big Ten on Wednesday afternoon. No longer is it required that both teams playing in the title game play at least six games to qualify for the championship. The league office put out a statement, saying in part, "The decision was based on a competitive analysis which determined that Ohio State would have advanced to the Big Ten Football Championship Game based on its undefeated record and head-to-head victory over Indiana regardless of a win or loss against Michigan."

Northwestern (5-1) is still scheduled to play this weekend against Illinois in a game that has no bearing on the Big Ten Western Division race. The Wildcats are going to Indianapolis regardless of Saturday's result.

Big Ten's Decision to Amend 6-Game Rule Was the Only Logical Outcome

Ohio State was unlikely to be allowed to pursue playing a non-conference team to replace the Michigan game because the league had already forbidden other teams from pursuing those options earlier in the season. There was one additional Big Ten game cancelled today, but both of those schools are dealing with CoVID outbreaks and there is not a healthy team for Ohio State to compete against.

It doesn't appear that the conference pursued rearranging other schedules to have Ohio State make up a game against either Illinois or Maryland.

So the Buckeyes will have another "bye" week, this time before they play their biggest game to-date. A win in the Big Ten championship game puts Ohio State in the best position to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff. The selection committee will announce the four participants for this year's playoff, as well as the teams playing in the New Year's 6 bowl games, on Sunday Dec. 20.

Is it a good thing for the Buckeyes to have another weekend off? I suppose it depends on how you look at it. It will help them get healthier and the fact they are guaranteed a chance to win a fourth consecutive league title is obviously good. But in a season with so few reps available with no non-conference games and three league games cancelled, the team is going to miss out on another chance to play meaningful football this weekend. I don't believe that will make them "rusty" going into the title game, but every rep counts in a year where so few are available.

I suppose the team will be forced to have a glass-half-full mentality. While they can't win a pair of gold pants this year, two championships are still within reach over the next 33 days.

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