Big Ten will consider any game canceled by COVID-19 a 'no contest'

The Big Ten football season is set to begin on Friday when Wisconsin hosts Illinois, and now we know what will happen if a game is canceled due to COVID-19. 

The Big Ten will determine whether to cancel games this year based on COVID-19 testing positivity rates within a team. If a game can't be played, it will be considered a "no contest," the conference announced Thursday. 

The league is attempting to play an eight-game conference season in eight weeks, plus a ninth game for all 14 teams during Big Ten Champions Week. In order to play in the conference championship game, a team must play at least six games. 

There is no flexibility or bye weeks built into the schedule, so conference officials accounted for the possibility of unbalanced schedules in their tiebreaker policy. 

Big Ten was the first major conference to postpone fall athletics and was the first to reverse it.