A royal clusterstrophe

So here we are now as the Bastard Plague tracks mud all over the Big Ten "football" "season," now staggering to a pratfall finish in an empty stadium near you:

The Michigan-Ohio State game is officially off, no doubt to Michigan's secret relief and Ohio State's horror because, oh my God, the Buckeyes are short of the six games the conference ruled a team must have to be eligible for the Big Ten championship game.

The Old Oaken Bucket game is all but off, as both Purdue and Indiana have been hit with COVID-19 outbreaks this week.

Ohio State is ranked fourth and in the College Football Playoff for now. Indiana is ranked 12th and could possibly play in the Big Ten title game if the Big Ten follows its rule and bars the Buckeyes playing, which it probably won't because the Buckeyes are its only shot at getting a seat at the CFP table, with all the fabulous cash prizes that entails.

"But what about Indiana, Mr. Blob?" you're saying. "If the Big Ten follows its own rules, the Buckeyes are out and Indiana is in. And if the Hoosiers beat Northwestern for the conference title, and a whole pile of folks lose in front of them, they could wind up in the CFP!"

The Blob's answer: Look at you, being all hopeful and stuff. Bless your heart.

Look. Indiana has zero chance to get in the playoff. Zee-ro. Should they be ranked higher in the playoff standings? Of course. Are they being punished because they're Indiana and not, say, Oklahoma or Georgia, both of which have thinner resumes but are ranked ahead of the Hoosiers because they're Oklahoma and Georgia?

Again of course.

Now, you can say that's unfair, and you can say it will be unfair when the Big Ten accommodates Ohio State and waives its rule, on account of it's 2020 and way weird and therefore there's no road map for any of this. And therefore no "rules".

And so fair or not, the Big Ten ADs can do what they want. And will.

They can push the Big Ten title game back a week so Ohio State and Michigan can play on the 19th and give Ohio State the "required" six games (and six victories, no doubt). Or they could let Ohio State cut a rumored deal to play Texas A&M this weekend -- even though  they wouldn't let Nebraska step outside the conference to play when the Cornhuskers had a game canceled on them earlier in the season. 

Bottom line, they'll do whatever they have to do to get the Buckeyes into the CFP. Because no one else in the conference has a prayer in hell of getting there.

"You know," you're saying now. "You could be wrong, Mr. Blob. Like you said: It's 2020."

OK. So you got me there.