Big Ten: Ohio St. will play for title vs. Northwestern
The Big Ten Conference dropped its six-game minimum requirement for the league championship game Wednesday, clearing that way for No. 3 Ohio State to take on No. 15 Northwestern in another chance for the Buckeyes to burnish their playoff credentials.
The Buckeyes (5- 0) will try for their fifth straight conference title when they face the Wildcats (5-1) in Indianapolis. Ohio State finished the regular season with only five games after Michigan had to pull out of Saturday’s showdown because of COVID-19 issues.
The rule change had to be approved by the Big Ten Conference Administrators Council, which includes athletic directors, senior women’s administrators and presidents from all 14 schools.
“The decision was based on a competitive analysis which determined that Ohio State would have advanced to the Big Ten football championship game based on its undefeated record and head-to-head victory over Indiana, regardless of a win or loss against Michigan,” the Big Ten said.
The conference determined before the season that teams would have to play six of their eight scheduled games to qualify for the championship game. Ohio State — No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings and the conference’s only undefeated team — has missed three games because of issues with the pandemic.
The latest was the annual grudge match against Michigan, which canceled its trip to Columbus because of rising COVID-19 cases and players in quarantine. Falling a game short of the threshold set by the league, the Buckeyes would have been outside looking in.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day suggested Tuesday that the conference’s six-game rule needed to be “looked at hard” to allow the Buckeyes in. He argued the rule was made early, before the pandemic caused delays and pauses that led to improvisational changes throughout the season.
The Big Ten change was made at the expense of surprising Indiana (6-1), which would have gone to the title game if the six-game rule had remained intact. The No. 8 Hoosiers, who lost 42- 35 at Ohio State earlier this season, had Saturday’s game against rival Purdue called off because of COVID-19 cases at both schools.
Indiana AD Scott Dolson said the Hoosiers were looking forward to completing one of the best seasons in program history.
WASHINGTON PAUSES >> Washington paused football activities, and with that decision the chance to play for the Pac-12 title could be out the window. Washington is scheduled to play Oregon in a game that would determine the winner of the Pac-12 North. If the Huskies are forced to cancel, Washington would finish with a 3-1 record.
The Pac-12 could decide to clear Washington to play next week against USC or Colorado in the conference championship game, pending COVID-19 testing. The Huskies are not ready to cancel the game with the Ducks.
FORMER ALABAMA , NFL
COACH RAY PERKINS DIES >> Former Alabama and NFL
head coach Ray Perkins died Wednesday morning in Tuscaloosa. He was 79.
The school announced his passing on Wednesday, and daughter Rachael Perkins posted news of his death on her Facebook page. No other details were immediately available.
“He served the University of Alabama with great class and integrity,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Wednesday on the Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. “He was a great coach and had a tremendous impact on the game, and he was a really, really good person and a really good friend.”
Perkins was an AllAmerican receiver at Alabama in 1966 and played professionally for the Baltimore Colts from 1967-71. NO. 24 BUFFALO DECLARED MAC EAST CHAMPIONS >> The Mid-American Conference made it official by declaring No. 24 Buffalo as winner of the East Division title. The announcement came after the Bulls (4- 0) appeared to clinch the title outright once their game against Ohio (2-1) last Saturday was canceled and declared a no- contest.
The winner of Saturday’s game between Western Michigan and Ball State earns the West Division title.
SMU STAYING CLOSE TO
HOME FOR FRISCO BOWL >> SMU will be staying close
to home to play in the Frisco Bowl.
The Mustangs (7-3) accepted an invitation to be in the Dec. 19 game that will be played in Frisco, Texas, about a half-hour drive from their campus. Their opponent, likely from Conference USA, is still to be determined.
SMU started the season 7-1, but lost consecutive games at Tulsa and East Carolina before its scheduled regular-season finale last week against Houston was put off for the second time this season.
COLOR A D O - U TAH GAME
MOVED TO SATURDAY >> The Pac-12 Conference announced that Colorado’s home game against Utah, originally scheduled for Friday night, has been moved to Saturday and will be broadcast by FOX at 9 a.m.
It replaces the canceled Michigan-Ohio State game. It will be the earliest kickoff in Folsom Field’s 97-year history.
LSU SELF- IMPOSES BOWL BAN >> LSU is self-imposing a one-year ban on postseason play for this season as part an effort to cooperate with an NCAA probe into rules violations.
Much of the NCAA’s investigation of LSU’s football program pre- dates the promotion Ed Orgeron to head coach during the 2016 season and hiring of current AD Scott Woodward in 2019.