The Ohio State and Northwestern have both passed the final COVID-19 tests ahead of Saturday’s Big Ten football championship game in Indianapolis, sources told ESPN.
Players and coaches of both teams had to endure a final tier of conference-imposed tests on Friday after arriving in Indianapolis. A source said that No. 14 Northwestern came out “100% clean”. Northwestern has not reported a single positive COVID-19 test from a player or coach throughout the season.
Ohio State also approved testing. The fourth-placed Buckeyes normally release their status report Friday, but pushed the report back to Saturday for the afternoon’s ET to kick off. Ohio State played without 23 players in the most recent game for several reasons, a victory on December 5 over Michigan State. The team has not identified any players or coaches who test positive, except for coach Ryan Day, who missed Michigan State’s game while recovering and has returned to his full duties.
Big Ten rules require that any player who tests positive for COVID-19 miss a minimum of 21 days.