The Big Ten has seen it's first game casualty thanks to COVID.
Earlier this week, it was announced starting QB Graham Mertz and his backup, Chase Wolf, have tested positive for coronavirus. Big Ten policy requires any player who tests positive for COVID-19 to miss at least 21 days and undergo cardiac screening before being cleared to return.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had reported that UW’s test positivity rate is close to the threshold that would force the team to stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days and then reassess the situation.
Now, a report says the game is officially cancelled and will not be made up at a later date.
ESPN is reporting that as of Wednesday morning, 12 people within the program had tested positive for the coronavirus in the past five days. That total includes six student-athletes and six staff members, including head coach Paul Chryst.
The current Big Ten schedule calls for each team to play eight games, with the season ending on December 12th. The league title championship game is set to be played Dec. 19, and at that point the college football playoffs would be revealed.
That leaves no room for games to be postponed and rescheduled, so it's unknown at this time what it could mean for Wisconsin going forward. The Badgers are currently ranked 9th in the AP poll after blasting Illinois Friday in their opener 45-7.
Wisconsin's next scheduled game is at home against Purdue on Nov. 7. The Gophers are scheduled to play at Wisconsin November 28th.
Wisconsin has been seeing some of the highest coronavirus numbers in the country over the last few weeks. On Tuesday, they reported record numbers of single-day COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and cases.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported 64 new coronavirus deaths, 220 new hospitalizations and 5,262 new cases since announcing Monday’s numbers.
