No one should be surprised if Florida fires coach Billy Napier during the opening month of the season.

Wisconsin is bringing Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell back to the Big Ten.

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

The ground-oriented, weather-proof offense has long been preferred by Big Ten teams.

The Associated Press preseason college football poll has been released and Alabama is No. 1.

Wisconsin wide receiver Chimere Dike (13) gets away from Michigan defensive back Vincent Gray (4) during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. 13 Wisconsin was ready, not rusty, in its first game in three weeks. The Wolverines (1-3) fell behind 28-0 at halftime, their largest deficit at home since the Big House opened in 1927, and finished with their most lopsided loss at home since a 1935 loss to Ohio State. The team announced that 10 players would not be available to play at Michigan, but didn't say why they were out of the lineup. Michigan travels to Rutgers (1-3) desperately needing a win.

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.

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. 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. School officials also said Saturday that the 22 active cases include seven confirmed positive tests (five players, two staffers) since that Thursday update.

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.

What happens if an outbreak hits a team’s quarterback room? “Obviously this year there’s some things that will be unique,” Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said Monday without specifically discussing his players’ test results. “I think there certainly were those questions after the decision was made,” Ohio State team physician Jim Borchers said last week. And that’s all we really paid attention to.”Big Ten protocols say that athletes who test positive through point-of-contact daily testing must take a polymerase chain reaction test to confirm the first result. While Wisconsin awaits answers, Big Ten teams continue reminding quarterbacks about the potential risks inherent in this unusual season.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and Wisconsin State Journal both reported that Mertz had tested positive. The Journal-Sentinel reported Mertz’s positive test came Saturday, one day after the Badgers’ 45-7 season-opening home victory over Illinois. Both papers reported that Mertz would be undergoing a second test to determine if the first result was a false positive. Big Ten protocols say that athletes who test positive through point-of-contact daily testing must take a polymerase chain reaction test to confirm the first result. Chryst said he has no problem with the Big Ten’s 21-day policy, which is more stringent than those of most conferences regarding players who test positive.

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