With Ohio State having its third game of the season canceled on Tuesday, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the Michigan football program, the Buckeyes now need a sixth game to qualify for a stake in the Big Ten Championship Game.

However, the six-game requirement rule may not be a permanent one. In a Tuesday release, the conference alluded to the fact that the minimum game requirement is not necessarily set in stone.

“The conference is committed to transparency and will continue to collaborate with its member institution stakeholders to determine Big Ten Championship Game participation requirements as well as tiebreakers,” the conference release states.

ESPN’s Dan Murphy reported Tuesday that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren said the conference needs to “remain fluid and remain nimble” when dealing with circumstances that have not been dealt with previously.

This past week, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez told Fox College Football that he thought the rule should be looked at if Ohio State-Michigan were to fall through, given that the Buckeyes are the first-place team in the East Division.

“If [Ohio State] has a game canceled, I think we as athletic directors would have to revisit whether they should be involved [in the Big Ten Championship Game],” Alvarez said.

According to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, the Big Ten athletic directors are scheduled to have their normal weekly meeting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Purdue canceled practice Tuesday, which has fueled speculation that Indiana, the Boilermaker's scheduled opponent this weekend, could wind up playing Ohio State for a second time if both are without an opponent. The Buckeyes won the first matchup 42-35 on Nov. 21.

Ohio State has won the Big Ten Championship Game in each of the past three seasons.