Michigan-UW Game Canceled by Big Ten Decision to Play League-Only Slate

Marquee college football game becomes casualty of the coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs slackening as second wave of cases rock the nation.

Dan Raley | Jul 9, 2020

The college football dominoes have begun to fall because of the escalating COVID-19 pandemic.

One day after the Ivy League canceled its football and other fall athletic seasons, the Big Ten announced it will play a conference-only schedule in all of its sports — effectively wiping out the Michigan-Washington football game set for Husky Stadium.

The moves were necessitated by the nationwide spike in novel coronavirus cases, which once again are overextending hospital services in certain regions. Undoubtedly more football cancellations will be forthcoming.

"Our fans and football program have been looking forward to this game for several years," UW athletic director Jenn Cohen said, "but we understand this decision was made due to the impact of COVID-19 and prioritizing the health and well-being of student-athletes.

Michigan and the Huskies were scheduled to open the season on Sept. 5, marking the Wolverines's first visit to Seattle in 19 seasons. A sellout crowd of 72,000-plus was expected.

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and Cohen will try to rescheduled the game.

“Warde and I are currently in the process of discussing details on a future return date and will provide updates as they become available," Cohen said.

The UW-Michigan game was going to mark the debut of Jimmy Lake as Husky head coach, John Donovan as the new offensive coordinator and a new starting quarterback.

Another casualty of the Big Ten decision was an Ohio State-Oregon football game scheduled for Sept. 12 in Eugene, Oregon.

No other changes have been made to the UW schedule, which also includes non-conference games against Utah State and Sacramento State.

However, the Pac-12 similarly has a conference-only schedule among its options in moving forward with a fall season.

UW officials said football season-ticket holders will receive updates from its ticket office shortly.

Published Jul 9, 2020

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.