Wisconsin Football COVID-19 Outbreak Now at 27; Game vs Purdue Cancelled

By Adam Roberts – 11/3/2020

It if wasn’t clear that last weekend’s Badger football cancellation was not an attempt to duck having to play Nebraska, today’s news should finally put that notion to rest for good.

The COVID-19 outbreak within the Wisconsin program is now at 27 cases (15 student-athletes and 12 staff members), and so the team’s scheduled game against Purdue this weekend has been cancelled. Like the Nebraska game, this one will be ruled a no-contest.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez announced the decision earlier this morning. “I share in the disappointment of our student-athletes and staff,” Alvarez said. “We have seen a level of improvement in our testing numbers, but not enough to give us confidence to resume normal activities and play our game on Saturday. We will continue to test regularly, take the proper health-related precautions and look forward to getting our team back on the field as soon as possible.”

The next planned update from the school is expected to come on November 7th; Wisconsin is next scheduled to face #23 Michigan in Ann Arbor on the 14th. With two games now no-contests, Wisconsin would need to play out the remainder of its schedule without interruption to qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game (@ #23 MICH 11/14; @ NW 11/21; vs MINN 11/28; vs #13 IU 12/5; @ IOWA 12/12).