Michigan-NC State game to be postponed, Wolverines looking to fill slot in schedule

The Michigan Wolverines and North Carolina State Wolfpack were set to meet on Wednesday in Ann Arbor for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, but COVID-19 positives within the NC State program has forced the game to be postponed. This leaves Michigan with an open slot in its schedule before its Big Ten opener at home against Penn State on Sunday.

The postponement was first reported by Brendan Quinn of The Athletic.

Michigan will attempt to schedule an opponent to fill that slot and may look to stay local with teams like Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Toledo having open slots for Wednesday/Thursday. It’s also possible they attempt to make up the game with NC State at a later date, but it is hard to see where the schedules match up. If Michigan wants to hold out for a better opponent, they have a gap from Dec. 13-25 to fit someone in there. In fact, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander says that prior to UConn dealing with its own COVID issues, Michigan was working on fitting them into the slot.

As of now, there is no game set for Wednesday, but things move quickly in the era of scheduling during a pandemic. Michigan could really use a top-50 opponent to add to its non-conference slate — which only allows for five games this year — that has otherwise been light, so we will see what happens.