BARRY ALVAREZ

Wisconsin has fired head coach Paul Chryst after a 2-3 start to his eighth season leading his alma mater.

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren had a chance to take a victory lap this week at Big Ten media day.

Cornelius Johnson caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and No. 14 Michigan remained unbeaten with a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin, which lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury.

Michigan is seeking to win at Camp Randall Stadium for the first time since a 20-17 triumph in 2001 when the 14th-ranked Wolverines visit Wisconsin.

Kenneth Walker III had a breakout performance at running back last week for Michigan State.

Tucker recalled the story while speaking on stage Friday during Big Ten media days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. He’s heading into his second season leading the Spartans but it was his debut at the event. That’s because last year’s media days were canceled due to the pandemic, which severely complicated Tucker’s transition taking over the program. Michigan State finished 2-5 last year but Tucker was given a pass by many due to COVID-19 putting clamps on what a new staff could accomplish with a reworked roster. With all the roster turnover, Michigan State is a difficult team to get a good feel for leading into the season.

Big 12 leaders held a call without Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday to discuss how to keep the league’s flagship schools from bolting to the Southeastern Conference — and contingency plans to survive without them.

INDIANAPOLIS – After being canceled last year due to the pandemic, Big Ten football media days returned with notable changes on Thursday. From potential College Football Playoff and conference expansion to name, image and likeness, there were major topics to address. That would be a major development in college football and Warren addressed it while noting Thursday’s announcement former Wisconsin coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez is joining the conference as its special advisor for football. “That’s the world that we live in right now and I know from where we sit we’re always constantly evaluating what’s in the best interests of the conference,” Warren said when asked about the report. “We in the Big Ten conference embrace the empowerment of all of our student-athletes,” Warren said, “from social justice initiatives to NIL.”

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is retiring after a three-decade run in which he transformed the university’s football program and later guided the Badgers to their greatest all-around sports success in school history.

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The NHL’s COVID-19 list is now down to 13 players, marking the second-lowest total since the league first began publishing it on Jan. 13. His addition came the same day four Wild players were removed from the list: Jonas Brodin, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy and Cam Talbot. Los Angeles Kings forward Andreas Athanasiou was also cleared after spending a league-high 21 days on the list. The professional hockey team started in 2013 in the Central Hockey League, helping fill the void after the Ontario Hockey League’s Brampton Battalion moved to North Bay. The New Jersey Devils still lead all NHL teams in both the number of players and the number of combined days on the COVID-19 list.

Bielema is returning to the Big Ten and his home state to coach Illinois. Illinois hired the former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach, hoping he can turn around a program with nine straight losing seasons. Illinois said Bielema will receive a six-year contract with an annual salary starting at $4.2 million, and begin work immediately. He became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his rookie season when Wisconsin went 12-1 in 2006. In January, the New York Giants and new head coach Joe Judge hired Bielema as outside linebackers coach and senior assistant.

Maryland and Michigan State, both in the East, will play each other. Using winning percentage to determine the order of the standings, Indiana should have played Iowa. For example, Penn State, fourth in the East, already played Iowa. While Michigan played Iowa last season in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines last went to Iowa City in 2016. I don’t think you’d want it any other way.”More Michigan Wolverines content:Michigan football opens as big underdog vs. IowaPotential fireworks during early signing period?

The 13th-ranked Badgers are set to play at Michigan on Saturday night, three weeks after their season-opening win. Wisconsin has been idle because it canceled two games due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program. “It’s been kind of weird and sad a little bit, not being able to play," Badgers receiver Kendric Pryor said. The Badgers bounced back well enough with testing results that athletic director Barry Alvarez announced Monday the team would be back on the field against the Wolverines (1-2, 1-2), confident that the coronavirus outbreak has been handled. Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 24, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, might play at Michigan.

This weekend’s scheduled football game between Michigan and Wisconsin is on. 13 Wisconsin, whose program was rocked by a COVID-19 outbreak in late-October, believes it has “a handle on the situation” and plans to move forward with preparing for Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor (7:30 p.m., ABC), according to a Monday afternoon announcement. The team says it has reported zero positive cases in five of the last six days of testing. Wisconsin reports five active cases and says one student-athlete and one staff member have tested positive for COVID-19 since last Monday, Nov. 2. Asked about the safety and well-being of his team on Monday, before Wisconsin made the announcement, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said his team was approaching the week as if it was going to play a game.

Wisconsin' game against Purdue on Saturday has been canceled because of a COVID-19 outbreak, putting its Big Ten title game hopes in jeopardy. The positive cases consist of 15 student-athletes and 12 staff members, the school announced Tuesday. Wisconsin’s Oct. 31 game against Nebraska also was canceled because of a high number of coronavirus cases. “I share in the disappointment of our student-athletes and staff,” Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez said in a release. According to the release, Wisconsin plans to provide another update on Saturday, Nov. 7.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin has canceled Saturday's home game against Purdue, the second straight game the 10th-ranked Badgers have called off as COVID-19 cases within their team continue to rise. This marks the second consecutive week that Wisconsin has canceled a game due to the virus outbreak. Ten players and 11 staffers have tested positive over the last seven days. The second cancellation gives Wisconsin little room for error in its quest to reach a second straight conference championship game. The Big Ten requires teams to play at least six games to be eligible for the league championship game.

(AP Sports) – As COVID-19 cases within their team continue to rise, Wisconsin has canceled Saturday’s home game against Purdue, the second straight game the 10th-ranked Badgers have called off this season. But I’m not going to lose track of priorities.”This marks the second consecutive week that Wisconsin has canceled a game due to the virus outbreak. Ten players and 11 staffers have tested positive over the last seven days. The second cancellation gives Wisconsin little room for error in its quest to reach a second straight conference championship game. The Big Ten requires teams to play at least six games to be eligible for the league championship game.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez says the total number of positive COVID-19 cases within the Badgers’ football program has increased to 22. Alvarez told ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday that 12 football players and 10 staffers have tested positive. Wisconsin announced Wednesday that six players and six staffers – including head coach Paul Chryst – had tested positive since Oct. 24, the day after its season-opening 45-7 victory over Illinois. School officials updated that number Thursday by saying two more staffers and one additional player had tested positive. The Thursday update indicated the football program had a total of 16 active cases, and that 15 of them had come since Oct. 24.

Big Ten football lasted just one week before its first cancellation. Saturday’s scheduled game between Wisconsin and Nebraska won’t happen “due to an elevated number of COVID-19 cases within the Badgers' program,” according to a release from Wisconsin athletics. Any player who tests positive must sit out of practice and games for 21 days. The decision to pause activities and cancel Saturday’s game came from Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez and school chancellor Rebecca Blank in consultation with the Big Ten. When the Big Ten announced on Sep. 16 its new plan for a fall season, it included medical protocols that addressed positive tests.

9 Wisconsin canceled its game at Nebraska and paused team activities for at least a week after a dozen people in the program — including coach Paul Chryst — tested positive for COVID-19. Alvarez said the team had only one positive test two days before Friday's season-opening 45-7 victory over Illinois and 12 positive tests afterward. Alvarez said Wisconsin had reached the “orange/red” levels in the Big Ten protocols based on its rate of positive tests. The announcement followed reports that quarterback Graham Mertz had tested positive twice – which would require him to sit out at least 21 days under Big Ten protocols – and that backup quarterback Chase Wolf had tested positive at least once. “We’ll see where we are as far as testing, and we’ll make that decision as we move closer to the game,” Alvarez said.

Michigan State has a 2020 football schedule. Michigan State opens by hosting Rutgers on Oct. 24 in what will be Mel Tucker’s debut as head coach. Following the season-opener against Rutgers, Michigan State will make the drive to Michigan for a rivalry matchup on Halloween. The back end of Michigan State’s schedule is loaded with a home matchup against Ohio State on Dec. 5 and a trip to Penn State the following week before the crossover matchup that will be determined. Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman on Wednesday said it is “probably inevitable” one or more Big Ten teams will not be able to play for at least a week or more.

For weeks, Trump allied himself with the effort. He publicly and privately prodded the conference to reverse its Aug. 11 decision to play football next spring. When the conference announced Wednesday it would begin play Oct. 23 under strict coronavirus prevention protocols, Trump was eager to capitalize politically. Big Ten officials cited improvement in same-day coronavirus testing capabilities as a key factor in their reversal. Let’s get back in the game,” flashes on the screen amid images of empty stadiums at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and elsewhere.

Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said before a spring football season is planned, there has to be a discussion about fall 2021. He said conversations about a spring football season have been minimal, but there has been a theme. If the NFL does nothing to accommodate spring college football some of the sure-things are almost certain to leave. There is so much to sort out, including the NCAA signing off on a spring football season. At this point in time, we'll see.__Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The NCAA on Friday encouraged its 1,100 member colleges and universities to give athletes the day off from sports on election day, responding to grassroots movements of activism from players and coaches. UCLA followed with a similar announcement and Wisconsin said Friday it would also skip athletic activities on election day. The NCAA did not mandate a day off for athletes on election day. Instead, the NCAA encouraged schools to assist students in registering to vote and to give them a day off from athletics to vote. Though MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher released a statement Friday saying the schools, conference and ESPN will work to move the game to a different date,The Division I college basketball season will start about a week after election day.