Per Adam Rittenberg, COVID-19 has done what Lovie Smith’s Fighting Illini could not: shut down WIsconsin Badgers football.
#Wisconsin's game against #Nebraska is canceled as Wisconsin pausing team activities for seven days.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 28, 2020
Here are key takeaways:
1: This proves that the Big Ten was serious about strict guidelines
Wisconsin exceeded what many of our staff called a very low threshold for positive tests to shut down the team for a week, and sure enough they were shut down when the numbers were reported. No exceptions were made for a division leader, and the Big Ten stuck to its guns. This shows that the Big Ten really meant it when they said they’d be very cautious with risk management, and we should be satisfied that they followed through
2: Big Ten Football was never “Back”
This was always conditional, and was also always going to produce a bizarre season. Imagine, for instance, that Penn State loses to Ohio State this weekend to drop to 0-2. Do their eligible players simply opt out for the rest of the season? Could you blame them? Who could be mad at someone minimizing their risk in 2020?
3: It’s still 2020
2020 taketh away, and 2020 giveth a little back, and then 2020 taketh away again. This is the way of the world, and I’m not saying things will definitely get worse, but if you’re not prepared for things getting worse, you’re playing yourself.