How Ohio State would fare in Big Ten football tiebreaker scenarios

Ohio State remains unbeaten entering the final weekend of the regular season, putting it within sight of reaching the Big Ten championship game for the first time since 2020.

The five-year drought is owed to a series of losses to Michigan.

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The stunning upset last November pushed the Buckeyes below second place in the conference standings.

Other setbacks against the Wolverines from 2021-23 resulted in their archrivals winning the East Division in order to advance to the title game.

Following the Big Ten’s expansion to 18 members last year, it scrapped divisions, resulting in the top two teams meeting in the title game in Indianapolis.

The Buckeyes are tied with Indiana for first place as both are 8-0 in confe,rence, though neither has clinched a berth in the league’s championship game.

Here’s how Ohio State can sew up a spot, according to tiebreaker scenarios confirmed by the Big Ten:

Ohio State beats Michigan

The cleanest path for the Buckeyes to return to Indianapolis involves a win over Michigan on Nov. 29.

If the Buckeyes snap their four-game losing streak against the Wolverines, they will reach the title game with a 9-0 conference record.

No help is needed in this case. The Buckeyes control their own destiny.

Ohio State loses to Michigan, but chaos unfolds

While a fifth straight loss to the Wolverines would be painful for a restless fan base, it is not guaranteed to eliminate the Buckeyes from contention.

The Buckeyes could reach the title game as long as two other upsets materialized this week — Indiana losing to Purdue and Oregon falling to Washington.

It would result in a three-way tiebreaker among Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State.

All three would be 8-1 in conference, and without head-to-head results among them, as the Hoosiers didn’t play either Michigan or OSU this year, the Buckeyes and Wolverines would clinch berths due to their records against common opponents.

Yes, this would also mean the first-ever in-season rematch of The Game.

The odds of this scenario are pretty farfetched, though. Indiana and Oregon are heavy favorites in their rivalry games this week.

The Hoosiers have a win probability of 97% against Purdue on Nov. 28, and the Ducks have a 75% win probably against Washington on Nov. 29, according to ESPN’s matchup predictor.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at [email protected] and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How Ohio State football can clinch Big Ten title game berth