Ryan Glasspiegel
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2020 might be over, but we are still getting the same frustrating COVID-19 news. John Talty and Matt Zenitz of AL.com report that the college football national championship game between Ohio State and Alabama, slated for Monday, might be postponed due to player availability issues with the Buckeyes.
“Ohio State has informed key parties involved it could be without a position group due to COVID-19 testing and related protocols,” AL.com reports. Major college football reporters Brett McMurphy and Ross Dellenger have also confirmed the news about the possible postponement.
It should be noted that just because discussions are happening does not mean the game has moved as of yet. If it does move, the makeup date would be one week later, on Monday, January 18th. The game would still take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
We will obviously be monitoring developments, so stay tuned to OutKick to find out how things unfold.
Update: Pete Thamel adds that the game’s a go, for now:
Sources: As of right now, Ohio State planning on playing in the title game as scheduled on Jan. 11. All systems are go for that. There's been COVID-19 issues at OSU, but not enough to postpone the game. This is obviously COVID-19 times, and things can change.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 5, 2021
It’s good to see the Ohio State Invitational… I mean CFP, make special accommodations LoL
This has nothing to do with Covid and everything to do with Justin Field’s ribs. They had a month’s extra rest with their season starting later. Cut the crap and show up on the 11th with whoever is available.
Oh, you don’t have enough wins because of covid? We’ll change the rules. Oh, some of your players got covid? Do you need a delay? Anything for you, Ohio State. Never mind that other teams seem to be able to avoid these things
Bama Wins by 72 … put $$ on it
Shoot I hope they win by 100.
Translation…….Justin Fields are bruised ribs and will not be 100% on Monday. So please give the osu (sorry cannot capitalize that school) a break finally and postpone the game! It’s not like we ever had any rules changed for our benefit before!
Notre Dame thanks Ohio State for replacing them as the team hated by most of the country.
Not sure how anybody can just blindly hate ND at this point in time anymore. OSU certainly fills that role nicely. The last championship they won was questionable too, leapfrogging TCU because of a single blowout conference championship win. Which was just the first excuse for the CFI to make sure the money flowed.
I agree. No one really hates ND, maybe USC? They are usually always overrated but were a top 5 team this year. I think we can agree that everyone hates Miami.
But that is 100%. OSU justified their placement into the CFP in the first year (’14) by beating Alabama. That still doesn’t mean they necessarily deserved to be there though. Same with this season. The win over Clemson shows they are a top 4 team but resume should matter. LSU beat a UF team they had no business beating this year. You play the games for a reason.
The players have zero risk regardless, but what about fans who booked travel and hotel? Might want to make a call on this ASAP so people have time to adjust travel plans. Forget the teams, think of the several thousand fans you’re impacting waiting around to make a decision!
Much like the Lakers fake trophy…if OSU happens to win…put an asterisk all over that.
Fuck that. You play on schedule if you have to put band members on the field. NO MORE SPECIAL TREATMENT! Corrupt fucking system.
Waddle also gets another full week or practice and rest if this happens. A healthy, prepared Waddle on the field with Smith is quite frankly not fair. Covering one first round dude running a 4.3 is bad enough, now you’ve got 2. I feel a batch of false positives coming out once Day realizes this.
What the hell is going on with players and coaches in the state of Ohio? Both the Browns and Ohio State can’t stay away from Covid? Also, I could care less about what Ohio State fans and sympathizers say, Dabo Sweeney was right in voting them 11th. He never said Ohio State wasn’t one of the 4 best teams, he just properly ranked teams that played out the season. Ohio State should never have been in the Big 10 Championship game, let alone in the Final 4. This is the very reason the 4 most DESERVING teams belong in the Final 4, not the most talented.
At the very least OSU should have set something up vs Texas A&M when they found out nearly a week in advance Michigan was out. That way, they meet the 6 game minimum to qualify for the B1G CG and possibly have another quality win on their resume. They do that and almost no one would have a problem with them getting in. Problem is, they knew they wouldn’t have to play Texas A&M and would still get their way. There was no incentive for them to schedule that game. It would have benefitted Texas A&M too. A win over OSU and it probably knocks ND out.
I have been asking that all season but not just about Ohio State. It seems some programs can stay relatively Covid free all season, whereas other teams had multiple delays. Is it discipline? Players not taking the advice of their coaches in terms of staying away from non-football students (parties, girls, girls, girls, etc)?