Ohio State-Oregon showdown off: Big Ten will play 10-game in-conference only football schedule

Unfortunately, every day brings more news that makes it look more and more unlikely that a normal college football schedule will be played this year in the wake of a coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, the Ivy League announced it would have no fall sports whatsoever. Several powerhouse programs have halted voluntary workouts because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests, including Ohio State this week. And speaking of the Buckeyes, they and the rest of the Big Ten schools will only play each other this year in a 10-game schedule, it was announced Thursday by the league. Every fall sport in the Big Ten will be in-conference only. 

"By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the Conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic," the Big Ten said in a statement.  

The 10 games could be spread over 13-14 weeks and the start of the season might be pushed back a bit. Both would be done to provide flexibility in case the coronavirus sidelines an entire team via quarantine one week or the like.

This decision eliminates several high-profile non-conference games such as: Michigan at Washington (set for Sept. 5), Penn State at Virginia Tech (Sept. 12), Michigan State at BYU (Sept. 12), Ohio State at Oregon (Sept. 12; arguably the non-conference game of the year), Iowa State at Iowa (Sept. 12), Maryland at West Virginia (Sept. 19), Miami Fla. at Michigan State (Sept. 26), Cincinnati at Nebraska (Sept. 26), and Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin in Green Bay (Oct. 3). 

Overall, playing in-conference only would affect 36 scheduled Big Ten opponents (eight from the FCS). Ball State, Bowling Green, BYU, Central Michigan, UConn and Northern Illinois were scheduled to play two Big Ten opponents this season. As for Notre Dame, the Irish of course don't play in a conference so it could be a challenge to find a replacement for Wisconsin.

Big Ten schools typically play nine conference games, with each school facing the other six teams in their own division and then three from the opposite division. Thus, East-West Division matchups would be added to get to 10 barring schools playing twice in the same season, which is highly unlikely.

The Pac-12 reportedly will follow the Big Ten's model as well now -- it would be an upset if the ACC, Big 12 and SEC don't do the same. There's also the possibility that the entire FBS schedule will have to be moved to the spring.

The first Big Ten team scheduled to take the field this season was to be Minnesota at home vs. Florida Atlantic on Sept. 3. The first conference game was to be Indiana at Wisconsin on Sept. 4. 

Defending conference champion Ohio State is the heavy -270 favourite on the moneyline odds to repeat at William Hill sportsbook. The Buckeyes are projected to be betting favorites in every regular-season game. Their toughest test would be Oct. 24 at Penn State. 

Unless, perhaps, the Big Ten adds an OSU trip to Wisconsin. Those two aren't scheduled to play in the 2020 regular season as of now. The Buckeyes beat the Badgers in the 2019 Big Ten title game, 34-21, but Ohio State had to rally from a 21-7 halftime deficit. 

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