Ohio State Still Looking to Play?

Submitted by DTOW on August 12th, 2020 at 2:53 PM

I’d post a link but I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment. Ryan Day just came out and said Ohio State is still looking at options to try and play this fall. There’s zero chance they get kicked out of the B1G if the do and I’m not sure how they think they can go about doing this but it raises a serious question for us.
 

If they somehow find a way around this mess do we try to do the same? Would the University even allow that? I would handicap it at about 95% that Ohio State doesn’t pull this off but if they somehow manage to do so and we don’t follow suit the uproar from the original announcement would pale in comparison to what this would cause. 

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OfficerRabbit

August 12th, 2020 at 3:09 PM ^

The below tweet:

Ryan Day does not completely shut the door on playing this fall: "That's a fluid situation. I know Gene and I talked again this morning at length about this."

Here is a link to the tweet from the reporter, I don't know how to embed tweets on this page.

https://twitter.com/chasshill/status/1293582870615916544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1293582870615916544%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elevenwarriors.com%2Fohio-state-football%2F2020%2F08%2F115747%2Fryan-day-leaves-door-open-for-ohio-state-playing-fall-schedule-outside-of-big-ten-saying-its-a-fluid-situation

 

Joined: 10/27/2013

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1VaBlue1

August 12th, 2020 at 3:01 PM ^

If OSU were to go it alone, Kevin Warren would have the entire conference behind him in assessing punitive options - of which being kicked out is not included.  I do believe they would be invited to leave of their own accord, but they won't.  They would accept the consequences, working in a very public manner behind the scenes to ease whatever was decided.  Nebraska will scream bloody hell - very publicly - and nobody will care.  Quietly behind the curtain, Michigan will determine which punishments stand.

If Michigan were to go with OSU and play, Warren would be gone, and the entire conference would look at playing.  And would probably do so.  But Michigan, led by an immunologist that won't suffer idiots (like us), will not even pretend to entertain such thoughts.

These are my predictions.

EDIT:  I further predict that Michigan, led by Schlissel - a man that believes in fair play, will not push for the strictest and most harsh of punishments.  It's a simpler, kinder Michigan under a President that just doesn't care about sports...

Joined: 01/31/2016

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MRunner73

August 12th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^

Before the cancellation of the season, I thought it would have been prudent for the B1G & MAC to have several games together. 1) to bolster the MAC survival and 2) much closer proximity such as B1G East playing cross over games that require longer distance travel.

I know; that was a pipe dream.

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Zak

August 12th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^

Justin Fields is either playing this fall or never playing college football again. Even if there is some sort of abbreviated spring season, I have a hard time picturing him (or any other player who is a lock for an early first round draft pick) playing in that.

Joined: 10/15/2009

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grmilton

August 12th, 2020 at 3:31 PM ^

I believe the decision came from the school presidents so it is laughable that the AD and football coach can have any say in whether the season is played.  This is the same reason that every other conference will most likely be postponed as well.  If it were up to AD's, coaches and players this would not even be a question.  The reality is that the presidents of all of these universities have a bigger picture to worry about than what the athletic department wants as well as the authority to make that decision.

Joined: 10/06/2010

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mackbru

August 12th, 2020 at 3:48 PM ^

Exactly. Presidents, or at least the good ones, take the long view and care about the school way more than the fucking football team. Football coaches are basically the last people we can trust to make selfless public health decisions. It’s depressing how many fans think of coaches as the best arbiters. It’s the same dynamic in which people listen to a self-interest game show host’s opinions over those of the actual health experts. 

Joined: 09/01/2009

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DTOW

August 12th, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^

I’m not saying I disagree with you but just to play devil’s advocate, is there an argument to be made that the Presidents’ decision is not in the best long term interests of the school, albeit, not intentionally?  It’s quite possible its simply the easy way out of a very complex problem. It’s most assuredly true that there will be long term unintended consequences for this decision.

It surprises me how many people have been relatively nonchalant about this decision as if playing shouldn’t have even been considered. And personally, I don’t get the feeling the Presidents put a whole lot of time and effort into making this decision. From the very beginning this seemed like them looking for reasons not to play rather than looking for a way to play. I guess we’ll see over the course of the coming months and years but history will either show this to be the right decision or the worst decision in the history of the B1G.  I don’t envy their position that’s for sure. 

Joined: 08/31/2013

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LDNfan

August 12th, 2020 at 4:45 PM ^

I think you have no idea what the Presidents considered and neither do I.

But you are crazy if you assume they did not consider the implications of not playing football on the bottomline. You don't get that far without having an understanding of the financial implications of decisions like this.

It feels like you are looking for a scapgoat 

Joined: 09/28/2014

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DTOW

August 12th, 2020 at 5:29 PM ^

It was reported yesterday that the day before the vote was the first time the Presidents even discussed any hypothetical scenarios. How is that even possible?  Any fourth year business student has worked through case studies presenting hypothetical scenarios and how decisioning is made and for 6 months these Presidents didn’t even bother to go through the exercise? When you don’t even get past step one of your analysis it tells me you don’t put a whole lot of time and effort into considering it. Throw in the fact that it sounds like our President didn’t even have the decency to talk to the team and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. 
 

Again, they very well could have made the correct decision. I don’t know the answer and I’m not claiming to. I do know this has been a shit show from the start and it dint need to be. They had 6 months and seemingly did absolutely nothing. 

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Tex_Ind_Blue

August 13th, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^

Given the amount of money involved for every team, the Presidents/CFOs must have been in the loop for a while. No one takes a decision on $40-50 million P&L in five days. Not even Jeff Bezos. Everyone reporting on this has an angle. Question is which one are we willing to believe? 

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LewisBullox

August 12th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^

Good for them. With OSU, Big 12, ACC, and SEC in the fold, you already have all of the playoff contenders anyway. The rest of the Big 10 and Pac 12 are irrelevant anyway.

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umchicago

August 12th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^

if they want to, they should.  i'm sure random teams would play them.  if they win 4 or 5 games w/o a loss, they would make any playoff setup, imo.  this assumes their prez is ok with it too.

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UWSBlue

August 12th, 2020 at 3:47 PM ^

I wonder how much patience the school presidents will have with these guys.  Assuming OSU voted yesterday to postpone, would Day's job be on the line here?  He's only been the HC for what, 1 year?

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St Joe Blues

August 12th, 2020 at 4:07 PM ^

"I'm just hoping that the coach doesn't dismiss me," (OSU President E. Gordon) Gee said of Tressel.

Frankly, I'm surprised the OSU interim president was allowed by the football coach to place such a vote.

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Haji-Skeikh

August 12th, 2020 at 4:11 PM ^

Who would they play anyway? Nobody in the P3 will play them. Why would they? Win/Loss wouldn't matter in their conference standings. Too risky and little upside if you win. 

Also, I think the BIG and PAC rushed decision not to play will hurt them with the better recruits going forward. It's already harder for Michigan to get those types of players. 

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