MADISON, Wis. – A wave of positive coronavirus tests among the University of Wisconsin’s football team has resulted in "a pause [in] all team-related activities for at least seven days due to an elevated number of COVID-19 cases within the Badgers program."
As a result, the team’s game against Nebraska on Saturday will not be played or rescheduled.
“We have said from the beginning that the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff members comes first,” Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez communicated through a release. “Over the past several days we have seen a rising number of student-athletes and staff contract the virus. The responsible thing for us to do is to pause football-related activities for at least seven days.”
“We thank and appreciate our athletic trainers, doctors and public health staff who are supporting the health and safety of our student-athletes and program,” UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank added.
According to Wednesday's release, a total of 12 people within the Wisconsin football program had tested positive for COVID-19 in the past five days. That group includes six student-athletes and six staff members, including head coach Paul Chryst.
“This morning I received the news that I had tested positive via a PCR test I took yesterday,” Chryst said in the release. “I informed my staff and the team this morning and am currently isolating at home. I had not been experiencing any symptoms and feel good as of this morning.
“I am disappointed for our players and coaching staff who put so much into preparing to play each week. But the safety of everyone in our program has to be our top priority and I support the decision made to pause our team activities.”
Per the Big Ten coronavirus protocols, the game will not be rescheduled and will be considered a no-contest rather than a Badgers forfeit.
The issue of positive COVID-19 tests began Sunday when reports surfaced that starting quarterback Graham Mertz had tested positive. News followed that backup quarterback Chase Wolf had also contracted the virus and that others within the program had tested positive.
The Big Ten protocols that determine whether practices and games can be held are as follows, using a rolling seven-day average to calculate results.
Team positivity rate (number of positive tests divided by total number of tests administered):
Green 0-2%
Orange 2-5%
Red >5%
Population positivity rate (number of positive individuals divided by total population at risk):
Green 0-3.5%
Orange 3.5-7.5%
Red >7.5%
Decisions to alter or halt practice and competition will be based on the following scenarios:
Green/Green and Green/Orange: Team continues with normal practice and competition.
Orange/Orange and Orange/Red: Team must proceed with caution and enhance COVID-19 prevention (alter practice and meeting schedule, consider viability of continuing with scheduled competition).
Red/Red: Team must stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days and reassess metrics until improved.
The Big Ten does not have a minimum number of scholarship players or players at a particular position at which it will cancel a game.
Chryst has refused to comment on testing and testing numbers on his team, but Public Health Madison and Dane County told the State Journal on Tuesday that 60 COVID-19 cases are identified as being associated with UW football — 56 players and four staff members. The dates of those positive tests range from early June, when UW allowed student-athletes back on campus, to Monday. The city-county health department reported 18 new cases among players and staff in the past 40 days. Wisconsin football had to pause its workouts in early September during a campus-wide outbreak of the virus.
According to the state Department of Health Services: A total of 5,262 new cases and 64 deaths were reported Tuesday, both records far above any previous daily counts.
The revised Big Ten schedule has each team playing eight regular-season games in eight weeks, ending Dec. 12. The league title game and other cross-over games are set to be played Dec. 19, one day before the College Football Playoff field is to be revealed.
That leaves no room for games to be postponed and rescheduled, so seeing seven Big Ten games played on the opening weekend, including Wisconsin’s 45-7 victory over Illinois, was a good first step.
Less than a week later, Wisconsin-Nebraska became the 37th game involving FBS teams to be canceled or postponed.
