Michigan cancels game against Ohio State due to rise in COVID cases./
Season-ending “The Game” is off as COVID spikes
Citing a rising number of COVID -19 cases in its program, Michigan canceled its annual showdown with Ohio State on Tuesday as college football lurches toward the end of the season without one of its cornerstone rivalry games.
The season-ending grudge match known as “The Game” won’t be played for the first time in 102 years.
“Our players, they want to play,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. “They wanted to play this week and they want to play next week.”
Harbaugh said his players were “very disappointed” to not face the thirdranked Buckeyes, who would be heavily favored: “The odds were against us, but our players, to a man, wanted to have that op
portunity.”
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said the spread of the coronavirus has not slowed since last week’s outbreak began and the team was not expected to be cleared to practice by the end of the week.
“The number of positive tests has continued to trend in an upward direction over the last seven days,” he said. “Unfortunately, we will not be able to field a team due to
COVID -19 positives and the associated quarantining required of close contact individuals.”
Outbreaks have disrupted more than 110 games across major college football since August — including this weekend’s regular-season finale between No. 7 Cincinnati and No. 18 Tulsa, which will instead look ahead to their matchup in the Dec. 19 American Athletic Conference title game.
NCAA president Mark Emmert, in an interview with AP on Tuesday, said even with all the disruptions more than 80% of the games are likely to be played and the football season should still be considered a success. Along with the volleyball and soccer seasons. Playoff rankings: For the third straight week, Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State held on to the top four spots in the College Football Playoff rankings.texas A&M is still fifth and Florida held at sixth. Iowa State moved up a couple of spots to seventh after earning a spot in the Big 12 title game. Cincinnati slipped a spot to eighth after an idle week because of COVID-19 issues in the program.
ACC: Notre Dame and Clemson didn’t expect to have an extra week to prepare for their rematch in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. But in a season of unexpected challenges and unique situations, they’ll take it. The second-ranked Fighting Irish and No. 4 Tigers now have two weeks before their rematch in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship on Dec 19 in Charlotte, N.C. The Fighting Irish (10-0) and Tigers (9-1) got an extra week off after the ACC decided not to have its championship combatants play rescheduled games due to COVID-19 postponements the week before the title showdown.
South Carolina: Linebacker Ernest Jones is declaring for the NFL draft. The 6-foot-2, 230pound junior has led the Gamecocks in tackles the last two seasons.
Notes: Miami defensive back Al Blades Jr. said Tuesday he will miss at least three months after being diagnosed with inflammation of the heart.
Obituary: Jack Scarbath, a star quarterback for Maryland in the early 1950s and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, died Sunday night. He was 90.