Only two Saturdays remain in the college football regular season. After that, two teams will travel to Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts on Dec 7. to determine who will be crowned Big Ten Champion.
In their first season in the conference, the No. 1 ranked Ducks have all but booked a ticket. After narrowly defeating Wisconsin on the road last weekend, they improved to 11-0 on the season. Even if Oregon loses its last game in the regular season, it will almost certainly still be one of the top two teams in the conference. Let’s look at who the contenders are to face Oregon in the Championship Game.
Indiana
The Hoosiers have been the biggest surprise in the Big Ten this year. No one was talking about Indiana at the start of the season, and yet, as the finish line nears, it is the only other undefeated team in the Big Ten besides Oregon.
The Hoosiers are currently ranked at No. 5, which some would argue is too high. While this team has taken care of everyone on its schedule, it has not faced any major contenders up to this point. None of Indiana’s previous opponents are currently ranked. That will change this Saturday when the Hoosiers travel to Columbus and face No. 2 Ohio State. If Indiana pulls off an upset against the heavily favored Buckeyes, their road trip to Indianapolis will be a lock.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions have been a runner-up in the Big Ten quite regularly in recent years, and that trend will most likely continue. In the past two seasons, Penn State’s only losses in the regular season were to Ohio State and Michigan. Ohio State is the only contender that played the Nittany Lions this season and its winning streak over PSU continued.
Penn State still topped all its other opponents, but with three other teams in the race, the loss to the Buckeyes made its chances very slim. The Nittany Lions are favored to win their final two games. Assuming that happens, their only path to the Big Ten Championship Game is if the winner between Ohio State and Indiana loses the following week.
Even if that happens, it’s not guaranteed that they would have the advantage over the other one-loss team.
Ohio State
Going into the season, Oregon and Ohio State were the favorites to match up in Indianapolis in December.
As we enter the final stretch of the regular season, that still looks like the most likely scenario. All eyes were on Autzen Stadium on Oct 12. when the two squads squared off in what was expected to be a preview of the title game. For the past three years, the only thing stopping the Buckeyes from playing for the conference title was a loss to Michigan at the end of the regular season.
Ohio State is optimistic this year as Michigan has seen a serious decline after its national championship a year ago, but the barriers between now and the end of the regular season are not ones the Buckeyes can overlook.
It faces an undefeated Indiana and a Michigan team it has never beaten under current head coach Ryan Day. Ohio State is favored in both of these tests, which will each be played at home. If Ohio State rises to the occasion, it will be a Buckeyes vs Ducks rematch on Dec. 7.
