Illinois-Ohio State Game Canceled
- Status
I'll speak for myself and say that I'd like to see the evidence and I think the right to cancel ought to belong to the conference, not individual teams. I personally consider OSU's actions a forfeit, not a cancellation, and it should go down as a Win for us. That said, if the numbers meet the conference's criteria, then I will accept the cancellation and applaud OSU for doing the right thing in difficult circumstances and presenting the evidence to the conference after making the judgment call.
Ge
We get that you’re asking a legit question, Ethan. The thing is, the death rate is minimal among the demographic that includes college athletes. The problem with COVID (and why football being played, even at the pro level, was always a bad idea) is the spread to vulnerable populations.
I don’t want anyone to play if it’s unsafe, but this is shady as heck.
If the Illini had to play 2 games with their top 2 QBs, starting center, fg kicker, starting DT and 7 other players out, OSU better have an absolute ton of players out to justify cancelling at the last minute like this.
If the Illini had to play 2 games with their top 2 QBs, starting center, fg kicker, starting DT and 7 other players out, OSU better have an absolute ton of players out to justify cancelling at the last minute like this.
And if they have too many guys out this week to play, how can they possibly play against MSU next week (per Rittenberg’s tweet) if players have to sit out at least two weeks for contact tracing like our players did.
Again, I don’t want anyone to be be unsafe. I was skeptical that this season should be played at all. But that said, the appearance here that other teams don’t have to play by the same rules that Illinois had to play by is extremely frustrating.
Again, I don’t want anyone to be be unsafe. I was skeptical that this season should be played at all. But that said, the appearance here that other teams don’t have to play by the same rules that Illinois had to play by is extremely frustrating.
So that makes me a little less sympathetic.
But if they were holding out 6 guys for positive tests and 23 guys for contact tracing, that would be rough to get game ready.
The fact that they leave themselves open to playing NEXT WEEK though is giving me skepticism.
It just doesn’t make sense to cancel against us. Were they really afraid of a loss? Or simply not beating the spread with their 2nd string? (Thus hurting their playoff resume)
I’d like to think there is nothing nefarious or underhanded here...but if there is, I hope Michigan cancels their game against tOSU “out of precaution.”
But if they were holding out 6 guys for positive tests and 23 guys for contact tracing, that would be rough to get game ready.
The fact that they leave themselves open to playing NEXT WEEK though is giving me skepticism.
It just doesn’t make sense to cancel against us. Were they really afraid of a loss? Or simply not beating the spread with their 2nd string? (Thus hurting their playoff resume)
I’d like to think there is nothing nefarious or underhanded here...but if there is, I hope Michigan cancels their game against tOSU “out of precaution.”
If either of the Buckeyes games gets cancelled the next two weeks, then here's how they could still get to Indy:
I think if you have eligible players whether 3rd, 4th string or walk on you should play the game. This is crazy. If you can field a full healthy team play! I mean even 20 healthy players on both sides of the ball should be able to compete. Its too many egos and school reputations at stake to just go out and play. PATHETIC!
It's not so much caring that we would have lost, it's just wanting consistency and transparancy in how these decisions are being made.
So if they decided upon themselves to not play, isn't that a forfeit?
It's no inconsistent. We had two confirmed cases(21 days) and a bunch of contract tracing(14 days).
If OSU has at least 8 positive cases(including HC who meets with every staff and player) who knows how many are out for contract tracing. Their numbers dwarf ours at least 4 times over likely, but somehow they should be forced to play.
Right it's called following the conference guidelines. If they don't feel comfortable, then don't play and forfeit. I'm not trying to start an argument and I'm all about safety, but if a team makes their own decisions on whether to play or not, that's on Kevin Warren since his own conference rules don't apply anymore.
Either way there's no precedent for this actually giving us a win. Do we really want one like that anyway? It changes zero opinions about this program. There is a lot of things to dislike about 2020, and an appropriately cancelled football game is very low on the list for me personally.
OSU wouldn't make this decision if they thought it could be avoided. A B1G champ/playoff berth is on the line potentially.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Let's put aside the issue of health and focus on $$$. OSU aims for the CFP. It has an athletic budget of nearly $220 million (compared with perhaps down near $100 million for Illinois?) I imagine that nearly everything Gene Smith does this fall regarding football is aimed at maximizing OSU's chances to play in the CFP and reap the prestige and $$ that result. A lackluster victory over Illinois this year, let alone the disaster of a loss, would harm those chances materially. Right now, Cincinnati is nipping at OSU's heels.
Gene's not going to risk it. My sense is that, in contrast, Josh Whitman's philosophy this fall is that our boys play for the sake of playing, even if lots of starters are sidelined. The two programs are in dramatically different places. I feel badly for our players today. It's a gorgeous day for football in Champaign and too bad they don't get to take on one of the sport's best programs. On to Iowa.
My two cents. I don't believe I'm being cynical.
Gene's not going to risk it. My sense is that, in contrast, Josh Whitman's philosophy this fall is that our boys play for the sake of playing, even if lots of starters are sidelined. The two programs are in dramatically different places. I feel badly for our players today. It's a gorgeous day for football in Champaign and too bad they don't get to take on one of the sport's best programs. On to Iowa.
My two cents. I don't believe I'm being cynical.
JJE
- Bethalto, IL
I don't want to sound like that guy, but this seems kind of sketchy. Of course health and the safety of their players and coaches should be number one, but this is OSU and them making the CFP would be a huge money maker.
Not having a full roster and potentially losing to Illinois would eliminate them from the CFP picture.
Not wanting to play because of the health of their players and not wanting to play with a depleted roster and potentially losing to Illinois can both be true.
Not having a full roster and potentially losing to Illinois would eliminate them from the CFP picture.
Not wanting to play because of the health of their players and not wanting to play with a depleted roster and potentially losing to Illinois can both be true.
Contra Rittenberg’s tweet, this ESPN article says OSU DID reach the Big 10 threshold for cancelling the game after testing Friday afternoon:
https://www.espn.com/college-footba...uling-playing-game-vs-michigan-state-spartans
https://www.espn.com/college-footba...uling-playing-game-vs-michigan-state-spartans
illini80
- Forgottonia
It seems extremely likely there will be more today. I am apparently the only one who does not want our guys playing this game. Our season could easily be done if they had guys test positive after the game.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
I thin the general question is show me the proof and numbers. Clearly no one wants anyone either positive or in within contact - thus quarantine of those in close contact and out for those who are positive. Are you suggesting illinois was doing the wrong thing by playing our games after positive tests and contact restrictions?Some of the comments on here are just...pathetic. Do you really want players coming here to play that will test positive tomorrow? Cancelling is the smart and the right thing. I know it’s hard being a fan, but you will survive this.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
Sorry, but you should never be happy to avoid a game based on whether or not you fear losing.
Health comes first sure - but for some reason we had positives and contacts and we were able to manage it. This smells like OSU was concerned about their ability to compete and just decided to call it a day and not waste the travel.
Deleted member 29907
D
Guest
I am not sure the AD's quote says that:
"We're making a decision not just [based] on the thresholds, but we're making a decision based upon what we see," Smith said. "We're seeing, in our particular case, it's kind of a community type of spread. We didn't see spikes in specific areas. So, could we have played? Sure. Was it the right thing to play? No."
Sounds more like - things were found on our team, and in the general OSU community. Which to me then says, they need to cancel at least two games if they are not showing up for this one. No way the 'community' magically gets better in 4 days. Transparency helps in these situations - and the fact that they don't give out numbers is what concerns me.
Right. I’m far less concerned about why we’re not playing this game and far more concerned about why we did play Purdue and Minnesota. And why our players had to sit out two games for contact tracing while OSU is talking about playing MSU next weekend.
The lack of transparency makes it look like a different set of rules was applied to Illinois than is being applied to OSU.
It’s a fricking football game people. I think OSU would have liked to play. This will make their second cancelled game, and if they have to cancel next week then conference championship game is out and possibly playoffs. They’re not playing because they initially had some positives and then they had more positives after they tested last night. Whose to say that after playing the game, there wouldn’t be additional positive tests tonight by players who played in the game — potentially infecting Illini players. By next week they’ll have a better handle on how bad the spread has been among the team. If it is no worse than it is now then they’ll be able to play — and without those who had previously tested positive and those out for contact tracing. There have been games canceled in B1G already this year, and I haven’t seen anyone on here yelling “show me the proof, show me the numbers” for those games. But now that it impacts Illinois it must be some nefarious plot? Come on.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Or perhaps that OSU applies a different set of policies to OSU than Illinois does to itself. Each program defines its self-interest differently because of their respective outlooks this fall.
Last edited:
- Status