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