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Keith Strudler: On Wisconsin!

On a positive note, Wisconsin football remains undefeated several weeks into the college football season and is essentially guaranteed to continue so through this weekend. The bad news is, Wisconsin isn’t going to play this weekend, and they didn’t play last weekend either, both games cancelled because of significant numbers of positive Covid tests among players and staff. Which means that three weeks into a highly condensed season, Wisconsin will remain 1-0, a singular win against Illinois in their season opener. That leaves the Badgers increasingly close not being able to complete the nine games mandated to compete for a Big 10 Championship, although to be fair that feels somewhat aspirational at this point.

Obviously, I’d assume the citizens of the state of Wisconsin have been otherwise occupied this past week beyond the game status of their favorite college football team. To be clear, all eyes have been locked on Big 10 country to save the Republic, especially given the inability of the SEC to largely deliver for the Democrats – Georgia potentially withstanding. And not that sport imitates life imitates sport, but the entire state of Wisconsin seems to be one giant Corona hot spot. So it’s probably unfair at best to pin the Badgers’ outbreak on either the athletics department or the University. Wisconsin football is one small part of the larger machine that’s put big time college sports in motion this fall, with what we might call uneven results. Perhaps better and more seasonally put, the results on college football this fall are likely to early to call.

Wisconsin is not the only school that will sit out this weekend. Louisville will have to postpone its game against Virginia. Dozens of games have been cancelled earlier this year – including some that are rescheduled for as late as December. And lots of individual stars – including Clemson Quarterback poster boy Trevor Lawrence – have sat out individual games, as Lawrence will again this weekend in a titan clash against Notre Dame. As much as college football has found a way to contest a fairly robust, largely conference-only season, it hasn’t been without hiccups. And of course, moving into the nation’s second or third virus spike, depending on your perspective, it’s likely to be even more challenging as the season grows longer.

For Wisconsin in particular, the football season hangs in the balance. One more week off, and it’s going to be hard to rally the troops. It will also be hard to prepare for Ohio State, something that’s difficult even when you don’t have to have practice via Zoom. Which means that they, and likely a bunch of other college football teams, are at something of a tipping point – to soldier on, or call it a day. And since probably no one listening to this commentary is particularly concerned about the state of Wisconsin football at this particular moment in American history, and only considers Madison, Wisconsin, in the context of percentage of votes reported, let me just say this.

Not unlike Wisconsin athletics, the country itself seems to hang in the balance. And throughout the course of the next agonizing hours and days, depending on how this all works, we may potentially have some opportunity to change course when it comes to how we address operations and the virus. And yes, I do know that presidents aren’t inaugurated until January. Unlike many of my colleagues who write and talk about sport, I do believe it’s feasible to conduct a college football season, even as I see the relative carnage in the wake of these efforts. I also believe there’s a safe way to somehow open schools and certain businesses in the country – although not the way we’re largely doing it now. And certainly not the way it’s being done in Wisconsin, where positivity rates are soon likely to surpass the daily high temperature in Fahrenheit. And perhaps, just perhaps, this moment provides an opportunity for everyone – from college football to state legislatures – to examine how we best move forward. Starting with, say, real mask mandates. And for the SEC, maybe making the stadium bleachers look less like a U2 concert. Maybe this moment in history, when Wisconsin football sits again while their state potentially pushes political change across the finish line, perhaps that convergence is not coincidental.

That could be a welcome thought for a country, and a state that’s hurting pretty badly. And remember, no matter what happens this week, the Badgers are still undefeated.

Keith Strudler is the director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him on twitter at @KeithStrudler

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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