Real Kato Blog: Big Ten Football 2020: The End

Michigan's season is over. Penn State beat MSU, and will play Illinois in the "post-season".

Michigan vs. Ohio State: Cancelled
Michigan vs. Iowa: Cancelled
The geniuses in the Big Ten had decided to match 6-2 Iowa, the second best team in the west, against 2-4 Michigan, the second worst team in the East. This came after a bunch of shuffling because Indiana wanted to play Purdue and Minnesota wanted to play Wisconsin (keeping rivalry games alive, I guess). It still made no sense though. Michigan was a two touchdown underdog.

But all is moot, because the game has been cancelled, again because Michigan has too many COVID cases to field a team. A commenter on MGoBlog said it best: "The way I see it is that Michigan had a night game at Kinnick and a game at The Shoe in back-to-back weeks and came away undefeated. I've never been so proud of this program." It is probably a good thing that this game isn't happening.

So Michigan's season is over, and apparently this is the trigger for contract talks between Jim Harbaugh and Michigan AD Warde Manuel to start in earnest. I think Harbaugh's chances of returning next year are somewhere around one in three. I think Don Brown's career at Michigan may be over, and perhaps Josh Gattis' as well. The rumor mill has it that only OL coach Ed Warriner's job is likely to be safe.

We go back to the uncertainty that we've endured ever since Lloyd Carr left. I can only hope that Michigan can return to its glory days sometime in the next 20 years.

Penn State 39, Michigan State 24
MSU jumped out to a 21-10 halftime lead behind new quarterback Payton Thorne, who won the job after Rocky Lombardi went out with a concussion in the OSU game. But Penn State scored on its opening possession in the third quarter, scored another touchdown two possession later, and then broke the game open with a 49-yard pass for a touchdown, followed by punt return touchdown four plays later. The defense stiffened, and that was all she wrote.

It's not all that significant a win because Penn State is guaranteed to finish the season below .500, but winning certainly feels better than losing.

Penn State vs. Illinois, 5:30 PM FS1
The 2-5 Illini come into this game as 15 point underdogs, and rightfully so. Quarterback Brandon Peters, who transferred from Michigan, was just 3-14 for 21 yards against Northwestern before getting yanked in favor of Isaiah Williams. This is a pretty bad team, you guys. The game will hopefully allow PSU to finish the season on a high note, if you can call it that.

Prediction: Penn State 38, Illinois 13.

Games to Watch on TV
It's championship week, so it'll be kind of exciting, I guess. Before all that starts, you can watch Oregon at #15 USC on Friday night at 8:00 PM on Fox.

On Saturday, the Big Ten Championship game between #4 Ohio State and #14 Northwestern is at noon on Fox. The Big 12 Championship between #11 Oklahoma and #7 Iowa State is at noon on ABC, and you know, maybe Iowa State coach Matt Campbell will announce he's leaving for Michigan after the game or something.

Cinderella team #13 Coastal Carolina plays #19 Louisville in the Sun Belt Championship game at 3:30 PM on ESPN. #3 Clemson has a rematch against #2 Notre Dame in the ACC Championship game on ABC at 4:00 PM.

#1 Alabama plays #4 Florida in the SEC Championship on CBS at 8:00 PM. And #24 Tulsa plays #8 Cincinnati at 8:00 for the AAC Championship on ABC, and we'll be on Luke Fickell watch there.

This will be the final post of this miserable season. I guess, as the old saying goes, there's always next year.

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