Uncertainty hangs over start of Ohio State-Michigan week

The uninterrupted COLUMBUS — streak for the bitter football rivalrybetween Ohio State andMichigan began in a pandemic.

The teamsmet in late 1918 in a season stricken by the Spanish flflu and have faced each other every year since, usually in the regular-season fifinale.

Another pandemic, however, could halt the long-running series. The scheduled renewaloftherivalry, atnoon Saturday inOhio Stadium, is in jeopardy after an outbreak of coronavirus cases inMichigan’s program led it to cancel its gameagainstMaryland last weekend.

UpdatesontheWolverines’ statusremainscarce.LateSunday, the school postponed coach Jim Harbaugh’s Monday news conference before resuming “limitedworkouts” onMonday following a pause in organized team activities.

The Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan athletic department officials have been pessimistic about the team’s ability to travel to Columbus to face the Buckeyes.

Offifficial word awaits. Under normal circumstances, the start of rivalry weekushersindaysofbuildup leading into Saturday’s clash, but the uncertainty is inescapable this year. TheGame, which has endured through two world wars and other national tragedies, mightnot gooninthetimeofCOVID-19.

Cancellationwouldbe surreal for legions of fans. Not only has the rivalry continuedinconsecutiveseasonsfor 102 years, remaining a rite of autumn, but ithas also rarely shifteddatesonthe calendar.

The most notable exception came in 1963, when the assassination of President John F. Kennedy postponed therivalrygamebyoneweek, to Nov. 30.

Alongwithbraggingrights, this season’s matchup is important for the Buckeyes as a potential boost for their hopes for a College Football Playoffff bid.

Itmight be a less high-profifile matchup. Michigan (2-4) is on pace for the fifirst losing season of Harbaugh’s tenure, leaving Ohio State (5-0) to be installed as lopsided four-touchdown favorite by oddsmakers.

But OSU wants to play as many games as it can in an effffffffffffort toimpress the 13members of the playoffff selection committee and put together alargerbodyofworkfor evaluation.

Among the top 11 teams in last week’s CFP rankings, onlytheBuckeyeshaveplayed fewer than eight games.

If thisweek’sgameis called offffffffffff, fewalternatives exist for a replacement game forOhio State, which returned to the field last weekend from its own coronavirus issues for a 52-12win atMichiganState.

After implementing a conference-onlyschedule, theBig Ten has not allowed teams to schedule out-of-conference opponents this season, previously denying Nebraska’s request to host Tennessee-Chattanooga after itsHalloweengameagainstWisconsin was canceled due to positive COVID-19 cases among the Badgers.

The only remaining scenario for Ohio State would be ifmultiple games are canceled across the conference this week, thus allowing the possibility of pittingtheBuckeyes against another Big Ten team.

As of midday on Monday, however, all games were still on the schedule, leaving no potentially idle opponents. That included Minnesota, whichappears to be ontrack to faceNebraskaonSaturday after it canceled its previous two games due to a coronavirus outbreak.

If both the Gophers and Wolverines areunabletoproceed, it could prompt some rescheduling among healthy teams.

For the time being, the Buckeyes are left to await the status ofMichigan.