Ryan McGee analyzes the numbers for the Big Ten's biggest teams this year. (2:17).
Monday's Big Ten conference announcement of its COVID-19 forfeiture policies stated that conference games will not be rescheduled in the event they are not played on their schedule date.
The Big Ten released a statement saying, "In collaboration with the Big Ten Conference Athletic Directors and Chancellors and Presidents as well as the Task Force for Emerging Infectious diseasess and the Sports Medicine Committee, the conference has decided that if one its member institutions is unable or unable to participate in a conference contest due COVID-19, that contest will be forfeited and not rescheduled."
The policy states that the contest will be deemed a loss for the team affected by the virus and a win for opposition teams in conference standings. COVID-19 would make it impossible for both teams to participate in the contest.
The policy provides that for competitions involving more than three teams, a team that is unable to participate due to COVID-19 will lose and its opponent a win. Updated conference standings will reflect these results. The policy states that no action will take place if the team's performance in the competition doesn't impact conference standings or/and the sport involved is not included in those standings.
On August 4, the NCAA updated its COVID-19 guidance. The NCAA updated COVID-19 guidance on Aug. 4.
The Big Ten announced the announcement as the conference schedule was set to begin Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, where Nebraska will take on Illinois.
