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BREAKING: Wisconsin cancels Saturday’s game against Purdue due to continued COVID-19 outbreak

The Badgers made the announcement on Tuesday morning as more cases were discovered within the team.

By Drew Hamm Updated
Kent State v Wisconsin Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

On Tuesday morning, the Wisconsin Badgers announced that their game against the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday is canceled and will not be rescheduled. This is the second consecutive game that the Badgers have canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the team.

Since the last update given, from Saturday Oct. 31st, five more cases have been found: three players and two staff members. There are currently 27 active cases and 21 cases have been found over the past week (10/27 - 11/2).

It should be noted that in order to remain eligible to qualify for the Big Ten Championship game, the Badgers must play six games this season meaning if they cancel one more game they would be ineligible. However, if the minimum game threshold is lowered due to other schools canceling games then Wisconsin could get back in the mix for a title game berth.

Here is the official statement in full from the UW athletic department:

WISCONSIN FOOTBALL UPDATE (Nov. 3)

The Wisconsin football team’s home game against Purdue on Saturday will not be played and team-related activities remain paused indefinitely, UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced Tuesday.

Saturday’s game will not be rescheduled.

“I share in the disappointment of our student-athletes and staff,” Alvarez said. “We have seen a level of improvement in our testing numbers, but not enough to give us confidence to resume normal activities and play our game on Saturday. We will continue to test regularly, take the proper health-related precautions and look forward to getting our team back on the field as soon as possible.”

There have been five (two staff and three student-athletes) positive COVID-19 PCR tests recorded since Saturday, Oct. 31. Over the last seven days (Oct. 27-Nov. 2), student-athletes (10) and staff (11) have registered a total of 21 positive tests. There are currently 27 active cases in the program, all since Saturday, Oct. 24. That includes 15 football student-athletes and 12 staff members.

The Badger football team first paused team activities on Oct. 28 and its scheduled game at Nebraska on Oct. 31 was cancelled.

Wisconsin Athletics plans to provide another update on Saturday, Nov. 7.

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