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No contest? Forfeit? What will be the ruling for the Nebraska-Wisconsin game?
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Major news broke in the B1G on Wednesday, when Wisconsin announced it was canceling Saturday’s game against Nebraska due to an uptick in positive COVID-19 tests. This week, the Badgers football team saw 12 new positive results — six involving players and six involving coaches.
Because of the spike, Wisconsin put a pause on all football-related activities for 7 days. That means the Badgers will not return to the field until at least next Wednesday and have canceled the game against the Huskers.
And because Wisconsin canceled the game and didn’t reach the B1G’s “red zone,” which requires a team to shut down operation, there’s a question as to how the result will be determined.
It could be a forfeit by a Wisconsin. It could be ruled a no-contest by the B1G. Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst and athletic director Barry Alvarez did not know when meeting with the media on Wednesday.
Chryst says he does not know if the game on Saturday against Nebraska is going to be counted as a "no-contest" since Wisconsin chose to cancel and wasn't forced to by being in the red/red section of the B1G protocol. Said he hadn't asked nor thought about it today.
— Bucky’s 5th Quarter (@B5Q) October 28, 2020
The B1G made the decision that all games called off due to COVID-19 would be declared a no-contest, with no winner or loser. However, because Wisconsin chose to cancel, it’s unclear what the ruling will be.
Right now, the B1G has not made a final decision on the outcome.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB