The Big Ten went 7-for-7 in the first week of its 2020 football season. Week 2 may not be as successful.
Wisconsin, already dealing with the loss of its top two available quarterbacks, may not be able to play its scheduled game with Nebraska on Saturday, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Specific numbers are not available, but the Big Ten requires team to pause activities for at least one week if the team climbs above a 5 percent positivity rate and the team's "population" grows above 7.5 percent. The state of Wisconsin is dealing with a surging outbreak at the moment; the state set single-day records for both cases (5,262) and deaths (64) on Tuesday.
The game will not be made up in the event it is not played this weekend. The Big Ten would classify it as a "no contest" and both teams would move on to their Week 3 opponents. Wisconsin hosts Purdue on Nov. 7 while Nebraska visits Northwestern. Obviously, shutting down operations mid-week would put any team behind in their preparations for the following week.
However, teams are required to compete in at least six of their eight scheduled games to gain eligibility for the Big Ten Championship. For a Wisconsin team looking to win its seventh division championship in 10 seasons, losing the Nebraska game would be a significant blow.
If played, Wisconsin-Nebraska will take place at 3:30 p.m. ET in Lincoln. FS1 is set to televise.
Cancelations have become commonplace this season in college football. A reported 35 games have been canceled or postponed thus far; the Mountain West postponed a game before its season began last week. The Big Ten has not had such misfortune thus far, but the conference's late start means the league has no room for error if it is to play a "complete" season this fall.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.