The Ohio State Buckeyes will join an existing tri meet with Indiana, Purdue, and Rutgers to replace their canceled meet against Michigan on February 5 and 6. That will make the men’s meet a quad and the women’s meet a tri, with Rutgers not having a men’s team (and only a handful of female athletes on campus).
The meet is being hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, and will be the regular-season finale for all four schools.
This season, because of the unique situation with COVID-19, Big Ten programs are only racing against other Big Ten programs. This strategy meant that the conference stepped in to guide the scheduling process and ensure that none of the conference’s teams were left out – though teams’ scheduling preferences were still taken into account.
Ohio State and Michigan finished first and second at last year’s women’s Big Ten Championship meet, respectively, and second and first at last year’s men’s Big Ten Championship meet.
Ohio State has actually already faced Indiana (and Rutgers) this season. In the previous matchup, Indiana topped the Buckeyes 185-115 on the men’s side, and 166-134 on the women’s side.
In the most recent SwimSwam Power Rankings, which are geared toward a projection of end-of-season performance, the Ohio State men were ranked #9 and the Indiana men were ranked #5, while the Indiana women were ranked #15 and the Ohio State women were ranked #11.
All Big Ten teams are ‘off’ this weekend, before wrapping up competition February 5 and 6. The Big Ten Championships will be held the last week of February (diving, women’s swimming) and the first week of March (men’s swimming).
WEEK THREE – FEBRUARY 5-6:
- Ohio State at Michigan
- Iowa, Nebraska at Minnesota
- Indiana, Rutgers at Purdue
- Northwestern, Illinois at Wisconsin
- Michigan State at Penn State
2021 Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships Schedules
- Big Ten Men’s & Women’s Diving Championships – February 24-27 – Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
- Big Ten Women’s Swimming Championships – February 24-27 – University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Big Ten Men’s Swimming Championships – March 3-6 – Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio*
Ohio State’s original meet against arch-rivals Michigan was canceled when the Michigan athletics department put all ‘athletics activities’ on pause for two weeks, until February 7. That included practices and competitions for in-season teams like swimming & diving (and the school’s highly-ranked men’s basketball team). There was concern at the time about 5 positive tests among the student-body for the new, more viral, B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus.
A few days after the athletics announcement, the University of Michigan enacted stricter measures for the whole student body after a spike on campus in new coronavirus infections.
I think both Michigan teams did better than what you’ve stated. The men’s team was first, and the women’s team was second at last year’s Big Ten.
Make way for the great GOAT Coach, Ray Looze, and the Indiana Hoosiers! “WE’RE ALL FOR YOU!”