Big Ten Championship tiebreaker with four teams left originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
As the Big Ten heads into the final week of the regular season, four teams — Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Oregon — remain alive for spots in the 2025 Big Ten Football Championship Game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe league’s expanded format and packed standings have created a few scenarios that could determine which two teams meet Dec. 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Ohio State and Indiana control the clearest paths. A Buckeyes win over Michigan combined with an Indiana victory against Purdue would lock in an undefeated matchup for the league title.
But a Michigan win opens the door to several multi-team ties, triggering the conference’s tiebreaker procedures.
In three-and four-team ties, the Big Ten sorts teams using head-to-head results, followed by records against common opponents, and then overall winning percentage of each team’s conference opponents.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOregon benefits most from that final metric in two scenarios, the Ducks clinch a berth despite lacking a clean head-to-head edge.
Michigan can also claim a spot with a win over Ohio State and either a Washington victory or Purdue upset of Indiana.
Meanwhile, Indiana remains the league’s most stable contender, assured a berth in all scenarios in which it finishes at undefeated in conference play and still alive at 8-1 through tiebreakers involving head-to-head wins and common opponents.
The championship game will award the Amos Alonzo Stagg Trophy and a likely College Football Playoff berth
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