Minnesota-Wisconsin football game canceled due to COVID-19

Saturday's game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers won't take place. 

Minnesota confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that it is pausing football-related activities due to positive COVID-19 cases and subsequent quarantines affecting the program. As a result, the game at Wisconsin is canceled and won't be rescheduled. 

"The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff has always been our main priority," Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle said in the prepared statement. 

"We have experienced an increase in positive cases recently and have made the responsible decision to pause team activities. We will continue to rely on the guidance of our medical experts as we navigate the next several days. We are doing everything we possibly can to miss the fewest amount of days possible. Our goal is to be healthy enough and ready to compete on December 5 against Northwestern."

Wisconsin missed back-to-back games earlier this fall because of coronavirus-related issues within its program. The Badgers won their first two contests of the season but fell to the Northwestern Wildcats last Saturday. They next play the Indiana Hoosiers on Dec. 5. 

Minnesota (2-3) hopes to host Northwestern that same day. 

The Wisconsin program reacted to the news via Twitter: