‘Big’ break
Conference waives its six-game title requirement to allow Ohio State to play
This decision will fuel conspiracy theories that the Big Ten put 14 teams through a football season previously considered too risky for players’ health just to get Ohio State into the College Football Playoff.
The conference voted Wednesday to eliminate the six-game minimum requirement for participation in the Big Ten Championship game, meaning Ohio State will meet Northwestern in the title contest. Ohio State (5-0) has played just twice since Nov. 7 and had games canceled against Maryland, Illinois and Michigan.
The shortsighted rule supposedly was made to prevent a team from backing into the conference championship game with just a few games played. But the Big Ten didn’t account for powerhouse Ohio State being the team affected.
If that requirement had remained in place, Indiana (6-1) would have represented the East Division despite losing to Ohio State earlier this season.
The Big Ten initially voted not to play a college football season during the COVID-19 pandemic but caved under public pressure as other Power Five conferences charged ahead. Games started in October, built into an eight-game schedule with no flexibility for postponements.
After Michigan canceled its rivalry game with Ohio State this week due to COVID-19 concerns, there was a school of thought that the Big Ten might cancel another game to manipulate a sixth opponent for Ohio State, though that would not have sat well with coaches whose weekly preparations already are well underway by Wednesday.
For example, Rutgers already has played seven games, so Ohio State could’ve made up its game against Maryland by canceling Rutgers-Maryland this week.
Ohio State is No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and beating No. 14 Northwestern for the conference title would give its résumé a late boost to solidify a spot in the four-team chase for the national championship.
“I don’t believe that anybody at Ohio State or any other team should be punished for decisions that we made by looking at eight games and saying, ‘We should play six,’ ” Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel said, “not knowing the effects of what happens to them and their team versus what happens to our team.”