Could Big Ten reconsider rules for Ohio State to play in conference championship?

There appears to be a growing chance that the Ohio State Buckeyes could be excluded from the Big Ten Championship for not playing enough regular season games. With the Buckeyes representing the Big Ten’s only real chance at a College Football Playoff bid, however, those rules may change.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, who chaired the conference’s return-to-play task force, admitted that the rule prohibiting teams from playing in the conference championship with fewer than six games played might need to change if the Buckeyes can’t meet the mark.

Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez, who chaired the Big Ten’s return-to-play task force, had interesting comments today about Big Ten possibly having to reconsider its requirements for championship (with OSU in mind) From a conversation w The Detroit News today…. pic.twitter.com/CIKEDxyELI

— angelique (@chengelis) December 2, 2020

“I would think that if something would happen to Ohio State and they’d have to cancel another game, that that’s something that we’ve got to revisit,” Alvarez told the Detroit News. “They’re sitting up there still ranked No. 4. Our league can’t keep them from having the opportunity if they have a chance to be in the finals.”

Make no mistake: this is all about the Playoff. If the Big Ten has a chance to land one of the four spots, they’ll do everything possible to help ensure that. If it means changing the rules to accommodate their lone contender, so be it.

To date, the Buckeyes have only played four of the required six games. They have two games left on their schedule, but at least one of them is said to be in jeopardy.