Wisconsin Football: Could Rapid Testing Bring Football Back This Fall?

Could we still see a Wisconsin Football game this fall? With rapid testing, it could be possible.

On Thursday, September 3rd, the PAC-12 Conference announced that it was entering a partnership with Quidel, a manufacturer of diagnostic healthcare products, to implement daily testing for COVID-19 for student-athletes.

Per the article:

“The agreement is a major step toward the safe return of sports competition in the Pac-12. The arrangement with Quidel will provide for frequent testing with rapid results, which had been one of the key concerns in the prior decision by the Pac-12 to postpone sport competition.  The testing will also significantly reduce the number of contact traces required and the breadth of contact tracing required, with the goal of relieving some of the burden on local health authorities, as a result of removing or significantly limiting the spread of infection through athletics activity.  Any return to competition is subject to requisite approvals from public health officials.”

The University of Wisconsin-Madison was developing a rapid COVID-19 test that was still pending approval from the FDA. UW’s test would cost just $10 and the results were said to be 88% and 94% accurate and the results would be available in just a few hours.

If someone could develop a rapid test, it would be huge for college athletics. It would allow Wisconsin football players to go in for a test early in the morning and would have the results before practice. This would definitely lessen the probability for the virus to spread throughout the football team, making it much more likely there could be a college football season.

If the PAC-12 finds success using the rapid testing, you can expect the Big Ten to follow suit and get football and other fall sports rolling again.

Even if this is still a longshot, having a glimmer of hope that we will see Wisconsin football this fall is still something worth hanging onto.