Mississippi State-Texas A&M game still on for now after Aggies' Saturday opponent has positive COVID tests

Mississippi State's upcoming game against Texas A&M is still on for now, though that at least bears monitoring in the days ahead.

The Bulldogs are slated to play the Aggies at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Starkville. An issue has arisen though as Texas A&M's opponent from this past weekend – Florida – shut down football team activities on Tuesday due to positive COVID-19 tests.

"The University of Florida football team has experienced an increase in positive COVID tests among players this week," Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, team activities are paused as of Tuesday afternoon. Head coach Dan Mullen has been in communication with football players and their parents, and I have had conversations with the Southeastern Conference office, last week's opponent Texas A&M, and this week's opponent LSU. These circumstances will be re-evaluated by UF Health and the athletic department's sports medicine staff Wednesday."

Texas A&M just upset Florida, 41-38, three days ago and is looking to continue that momentum on Saturday at the expense of Mississippi State. An MSU source confirmed to Sports Illustrated's Cowbell Corner via text message on Tuesday that, so far, the Bulldogs and Aggies are still slated to kick off as scheduled this weekend.

Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork released this statement on Tuesday saying that, to this point, the Aggies haven't had coronavirus issues since last Saturday.

"We have been in touch with officials at the University of Florida and have also reviewed the available data from the Kinexon contact tracing system deployed by the SEC," Bjork said. "At this point, there has been no impact within our football program, but we will continue our regular testing regiment this week and stay diligent with all of our safety protocols."

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