Purdue’s game on Nov. 7 at Wisconsin could be in peril.
The Badgers are in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that has forced the program to pause all activities for seven days. As a result, Wisconsin's game at Nebraska slated for this Saturday has been cancelled.
Wisconsin reported 12 new positive tests this week—six players and six staff members. One of those was head coach Paul Chryst. It was reported earlier that Badger quarterback Graham Mertz has tested positive, too.
The Boilermakers are scheduled to play at Wisconsin a week from this coming Saturday. If the Badgers are given the all-clear to resume activities next week--likely on Wednesday, Nov. 5--they would have just three days to prepare for the game vs. Purdue.
Chryst said today he feels his team can prepare in a short time for Purdue.
"The seven-day pause is important for us," said Chryst. "We've got to do that well. It's got to serve it's proper purpose. Then we can address (the Purdue game). Not all the coaches have got (COVID)."
The Boilermakers are slated to play at Illinois this Saturday. The Fighting Illini opened the season at Wisconsin. But as of today, Illinois reported no new positive COVID tests.
Purdue already has had to deal with COVID. Head coach Jeff Brohm emerged from a 10-day isolation today after a positive test. Special teams coach Marty Biagi also is returning from isolation today. Both missed the Boilermakers' opening win vs. Iowa last Saturday.
According to the Big Ten’s coronavirus protocols, a team has to cease practice and competition for a minimum of seven days if its player positivity rate is greater than five percent over a seven-day rolling average or its population positivity rate — that includes all staffers within a program — is greater than the 7.5 percent.
The Big Ten has said that cancelled games will be deemed a "no contest" and won't be made up. Because of its late start to the 2020 season, the Big Ten was unable to build-in off weeks to accommodate make-up games. The league began play Oct. 23-24 and is slated to play each weekend--nine games in nine weeks--until Dec. 18-19.
The Big Ten said last week that teams must play a minimum of six games to be considered eligible for the conference title game. Division standings will be decided via winning percentage, meaning a team that is 7-1 at the end of its eight-game regular season schedule will have the edge over a 6-1 team that was unable to play a game.
The Big Ten’s rules also state that a player who tests positive must sit out a minimum of 21 days from the date of the first positive test. In that time, the player will undergo a comprehensive health and cardiac screening before being allowed to return to action. That means a Wisconsin player who tested positive after the Illinois game could miss two more weeks of competition before being allowed to play.
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