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KGFW Sports – B1G Gives OK too Ohio State, NU Men Fall, Women vs. Ill and More

By News Dec 10, 2020 | 8:37 AM

The Big Ten has officially changed its policy that teams must play six games to be eligible for the conference championship game. The decision means undefeated No. 4 Ohio State will face Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship on Dec. 19th. The conference made the announcement Wednesday after its administrative council voted to eliminate the minimum-6-game requirement in collaboration with the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors. The Buckeyes have played only five games, and they won’t get to play a sixth this weekend because Michigan canceled their rivalry game due to a rise in COVID cases in their program. It was the third canceled game for Ohio State (5-0) this season, after losing games against Illinois and Maryland because of the virus. The Buckeyes — who already topped Big Ten East second-place team Indiana — either needed an opponent or an exception to the six-game rule to eligible to play in the Big Ten Championship Game .

The Big Ten Conference plans to play all of it’s Week 9 games on campus sites, except for the championship game which will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Schools were notified of the plans Wednesday morning. The email said Big Ten home stadiums would be used for the Week 9 crossover games, and final match-ups may not be known until Monday. A lot will depend on the status of teams like Indiana, Purdue and Michigan who currently have paused team activities because of COVID-19 outbreaks in their program. The email also said there would be both Friday and Saturday games on Week 9.

Indiana and Purdue have mutually agreed to cancel the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game Saturday in Bloomington because of an increase in COVID-19 cases at the schools.

Husker head coach Scott Frost will speak with the media today, as the Huskers begin to wrap up their preparations for this Saturday’s game against Minnesota. You can find a link to the coach Frost interview at Huskermax.com. The Huskers and Gophers are set meet at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Saturday morning at 11:00.

The Nebraska men’s basketball team lost at home to Georgia Tech, 75-64, as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Now 3-and-2 on the season, the Huskers will try to bounce back tomorrow night with a game against the 8th ranked Creighton Bluejays at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. Tipoff will be at 6:00.

The Nebraska women’s basketball team will open Big Ten play, and close a three game season opening homestand, tonight when they host Illinois. The Huskers opened their season with a pair of non-conference wins last week. They crushed Oral Roberts in their season opener Friday, 90-61, and topped Idaho State Sunday, 64-51. The Fighting Illini are 2-1 on the season following Sunday’s 53-50 win over Omaha in Champaign. The Husker women lead the all-time series 14-to-5, and will be looking for their fifth straight win in the series. Tip-off against the Fighting Illini is set for tonight at 7:00.

The UNK basketball teams will play their first road games of the season tonight, taking on the Newman Jets in Wichita, Kansas. They continue on the road Saturday with games against Central Oklahoma. The Lopers will host Rogers State and Northeastern State next week to close out the first semester. Those games are a Friday/Sunday format due to winter graduation ceremonies.

The Kearney High Boys and Girls Basketball games vs. Lincoln East (originally scheduled for Dec. 11th) that were postponed have been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 19th at KHS.