Buffalo yet to be informed by it has clinched MAC East title
The undefeated Buffalo Bulls area waiting word from the Mid-American Conference as to whether they have, in fact, clinched the East Division title after their game at Ohio was canceled and declared a nocontest on Friday.
Athletic director Mark Alnutt said he believes Buffalo “has a great case to make” to be division champions, but added he likely won’t get an official ruling from the conference until early next week. That’s a switch after school officials indicated earlier in the day that Buffalo had clinched the division title and a berth in the conference championship game in Detroit in two weeks.
The game at Ohio on Saturday was canceled because the Bobcats’ roster was depleted as a result of players testing positive for COVID-19.
Buffalo is 4-0, and needed a win over Ohio (2-1) to clinch the title. With one game left for both schools after this weekend, Ohio was the only division rival in position to mathematically still win the East.
A message left with a MAC official was not returned.
It’s unclear whether the conference will attempt to reschedule the game after announcing the cancelation. The MAC season was already condensed, with each school playing a six-game schedule.
Ohio already had its game against Miami, Ohio, on Nov. 17 canceled due to COVID19.
The Bulls were on the road to Athens, Ohio, when they learned of the cancelation. The team’s five-bus caravan pulled over at a rest stop and then turned around to travel back home.
Scrambling in the SEC: The Southeastern Conference has announced a revamped schedule for Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, including Vanderbilt’s game at No. 11 Georgia that could not be played as scheduled on Saturday because of coronavirus concerns.
The rescheduled games announced Friday were made necessary following postponements due to the SEC’s COVID-19 protocols.
Vanderbilt was forced to postpone Saturday’s game at Georgia because the Commodores’ roster fell below minimum requirements. The game has been rescheduled for Dec. 19.
With Vanderbilt’s specialists unable to participate at Missouri last week due to the COVID-19 protocols, Sarah Fuller made history as the first woman to play in a Power Five conference game. Fuller kicked off to open the second half of Missouri’s 41-0 win and was expected to be in uniform again for the game against Georgia.
The COVID-19 concerns are not limited to the SEC.
No. 3 Ohio State appeared to be on track to play after school officials canceled last week’s trip to Illinois due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. Ohio State said Friday in a statement it was prepared to travel Friday to East Lansing, Michigan, for its Saturday game against Michigan State.