Big Ten: Games Canceled Because of COVID-19 Will Be Ruled 'No Contest'

The Big Ten will deem any football game canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak a "no contest," the conference announced Thursday afternoon. 

According to the Big Ten's Football Gameday Protocols, "a game cannot be played as scheduled due to both a Test Positivity Rate greater than 5 percent and a Population Positivity Rate greater than 7.5 percent for one or both teams." Neither team will be assigned a win or loss in a no-contest situation. 

The league's 2020 guidelines state a team must play at least six games to be eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. In the event the number of average games played by all teams falls below six, then teams must have played "no less than two fewer conference games than the average number of games played by all teams."

For example, if the average number of conference games played is six, a team must have played at least four games to remain eligible for the conference title. 

The Big Ten is attempting to complete an eight-game season after initially postponing fall sports in August. There are no bye weeks built into the season due to the truncated nature of the schedule in 2020.

No. 14 Wisconsin will open the conference slate at home against Illinois on Friday.

The Big Ten will also hold each member school accountable for enforcing face mask policies on game days while athletic directors hold a conference call each week to share and review safety protocols. 

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith doesn't foresee any major issues with schools keeping its staffs accountable.

"I think we're going to be fine," Smith said, per ESPN's Heather Dinich. "We're going to be sensitive to the moment. There are going to be times when Ryan Day is in the middle of a call and his mask is down, and we have someone to remind him to put it back up. Kind of like that get-back coach, right? That's where we like it at this point in time. I hope we don't get to a point where we have to fine people."