Sponsor note. Wait, one second.

Ohio caviar. Do not watch this while eating.

??? pic.twitter.com/VJ3WeRfQIk

— Kiko’ (@KikoSencillo) September 29, 2020

This makes up for at least 1.3 losses to Ohio State over the past 15 years, I'm pretty sure. Still waiting for a final number.

I almost want to make this and attempt to feed it to the children in the hopes that they will reject it and then eat the frittata. It's egg and cheese! HOW MUCH WORSE CAN IT BE THAN EGG AND CHEESE EATEN SEPARATELY anyway

Sponsor note part 2. Do you have an idea for a business, like posting videos of your crockpot abominations in the hope that people will pay you not to have their logo on your crockpot? Sound business plan… as long as that's not extortion. Better find out by calling Richard Hoeg.

Because if it's not extortion baby you've got a Lovecraftian horror stew going. But if it is at least you'll be used to the food. Richard Hoeg can walk you through the legality of your plans, and if they are indeed legal he can get you set up with the small business you've always dreamed of.

Still out. Per Wolverines Wire, Ambry Thomas is not going to opt back in. Jalen Mayfield has submitted his waiver and gotten it approved, which was the reason for the Mysterious Tweet of the Week:

Uh oh...

— Jalen Mayfield (@jay_may_11) September 27, 2020

Nico Collins has not submitted a waiver and presumably will not be returning either. If this is depressing just think of all the times you don't have to say THROW IT TO NICO this fall when the ball goes anywhere else unsuccessfully.

[After the JUMP: meep meep]

It does look sped up. Xavier Worthy is impressed by how fast Xavier Worthy is moving:

It look sped up Frfr pic.twitter.com/pPOoPcQySE

— Flash Worthy⚡️❄️ (@Xavierworthy2) September 28, 2020

I am also impressed.

Why is it just this one guy? We've mentioned the MLB pitcher who had to shut it down for the year after a myocarditis diagnosis. This is his current status:

Roenicke said Rodriguez has been unable to do any real physical activity save for moving a bit around the house since he was shut down with myocarditis in lateJuly. But he reiterates expectation (‘so encouraging’) is he can have a full offseason conditioning program.

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 25, 2020

I am unaware that any college football player has been shut down in a similar fashion. Other sports have been able to prevent mass infections and may plausibly have gotten away with just a few myocarditis diagnoses, but if the 10-15% rate is correct, and teams like LSU and Texas Tech have had a majority of their team get infected, then where are the guys being held out in a similar fashion?

Someone may do something or they may be ignored. MSU has been significantly underreporting COVID cases on campus and the county health official is making some football related statements:

More than 1,250 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at Michigan State University since Aug. 24 — more than double the 499 that the university reports on its coronavirus tracker web page, according to the county’s top health official.

Linda Vail, Ingham County health officer, expressed frustration that MSU is not including county numbers in its case counts. She added that if MSU’s scheduled opening football game Oct. 24 were held now, she would “absolutely tell them to call it off,” given the current volume of COVID cases on campus. …

[After this article was published Tuesday evening, Vail contacted Bridge to clarify that she did not mean to suggest she would order the game’s cancellation if case numbers remain high. Instead, she said, she meant to convey she would “advise” that the game be canceled.] ​

It is unclear why an outdoor football game between two rigorously tested programs should be called off when the state is going to open all kinds of indoor activities October 9th. As far as I know no Big Ten program has announced that they'll allow fans into the stadium. Also it is unclear what the county health official is empowered to do:

MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant told Bridge Michigan on Tuesday she does not know what the university would do if the county health department recommended shutting down a football game, or if Vail has the authority to order a game canceled.

This could unfold into a Veep epsiode. Keep your ears to the ground. 

In a similar vein, now that Michigan's COVID dashboard includes outside testing the numbers are looking exponential:

One dollar says there's a total shutdown of on-campus activities in the near future. With dorms 70% full it probably won't make enough of a difference.

The Nebraska thing. Leave it to the pseudonymous twitter parody account to have the best take on the recent war of words and silly lawsuits between Nebraska and the rest of the Big Ten. Faux Pelini on the situation:

Now, if Nebraska had really cared about the Big Ten, it might have understood the impact that the Other Options speech would have on the other conference members.  The Big Ten was working on a group solution to a difficult, high stakes problem — how to responsibly deal with a virus that was killing a lot of people — and Frost made it seem that Nebraska was only concerned about its football schedule.

And if the Big Ten had truly cared about Nebraska, it might have tried to understand where Nebraska was coming from. Instead, the Big Ten and its schools mostly took the easy way out and characterized Nebraska as a disloyal problem child.

What the Big Ten wasn’t willing to see is that when speaking of Other Options, Nebraska wasn’t making threats. Nebraska was worried.

Pelini makes a case that CFB is even more wired into the ordinary Nebraskan's mind than it is for other Big Ten fanbases and that the conflict arises from that.

Right into it then. I hadn't put basketball's start date together with the dates being floated for the now-moved Empire State Classic but Franz Wagner's appearance on BTN does:

“After a long time without certainty whether we’ll have a season or not, now we’re all motivated and ready to go,” Wagner said. “Having that goal in mind, Nov. 25, when we play Villanova, it’s a lot easier to go to practice every day and be motivated to work hard and try to get better.”

That would be Michigan's first game. Opening with Villanova is not like opening against a low major, especially if the closed scrimmages and exhibition games aren't played this year. Difficult to imagine they would.

Nova finished last year 18th in Kenpom. They lost Saddiq Bey to the NBA Draft but return everyone else, and expectations are extremely high. A potential second game against Baylor would also be a tough matchup:

Villanova is ranked No. 2 in the country in ESPN’s latest preseason rankings; the Wildcats are third per CBS Sports. Baylor is first on ESPN and second on CBS. Boston College, which finished 13-19 last year, does not appear in either poll.

If you assume that Michigan is an underdog against either of the big names getting them early in a weird season is probably an advantage. HoopVision has an excellent Villanova preview for subscribers.

Zooming with the new guys. The Daily on basketball's odd offseason, featuring this Austin Davis quote:

In addition to keeping the existing team together, the Zoom calls also served as introductions for Michigan’s newest players. Four freshmen and two incoming transfers — guards Mike Smith and Chaundee Brown — were initially integrated virtually.

“We just kinda got to know each other a bit through (Zoom),” Davis said. “I probably shouldn’t say ‘shooting the shit’ but you know, we just got to know each other.

Austin Davis may not have an internal monologue. He may wander around saying everything that comes to his mind, and nobody has noticed because it's all about post footwork.

Good odds. Michigan's waiver for Chaundee Brown is still in limbo. But the ratio here is encouraging:

Chaundee Brown, to my knowledge, still in the "pending" category. https://t.co/MB0R6Fu75v

— Andrew Kahn (@AndrewKahn) September 28, 2020

Getting to the point where you have to wonder what the folks who get denied did. Desecrate a religious icon near and dear to the committee?

Etc.: Mid and low major basketball teams are in for a rough time. Dabo gonna Dabo. NYT on the death of Jamain Stephens, now confirmed to be a COVID fatality. Big Ten set to stick with a 20 game conference basketball schedule. Indiana loses star spacebacker Marcelino Ball to an ACL injury.