By Michelle Richardson

BIG TEN FOOTBALL RELEASE – FCG | STANDINGS | MEDIA GUIDE | SCHEDULE

• Oregon and Penn State have earned berths into the 14th Big Ten Football Championship Game presented by Discover at 8 p.m. (ET) Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the game televised to a live nationwide audience on CBS and broadcast on radio via Compass Media Network. In its inaugural season in the Big Ten, Oregon is making its first appearance in the Big Ten Football Championship Game, while Penn State will be making its second appearance in the title contest and first since 2016.
• At the conclusion of Saturday’s game, one student-athlete will be chosen by a select media panel as the Grange-Griffin Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Football Championship Game. Offensive players have earned the award 11 times (seven quarterbacks, four running backs) in the game’s 13-year history, including the only two-time recipient, Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook (2013 and 2015). Michigan defensive back Mike Sainristil became the second defensive player to earn the award in 2023.
• This will be the fifth meeting between the Ducks and the Nittany Lions, with Penn State leading the all-time series 3-1. This will be the first Big Ten matchup between the two schools and first since the 1995 Rose Bowl, with Penn State earning a 38-20 win to conclude a 12-0 season.
• Penn State is seeking its fifth Big Ten Football Championship and first since 2016, when it beat Wisconsin 38-31. The Nittany Lions have won three Big Ten football titles in their history (1994, 2005, 2008).
• Oregon clinched a Big Ten Championship berth after a 16-13 win over Wisconsin on December 7. The Ducks finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2010 and the second time in program history. Oregon is the only FBS team to go undefeated in the regular season and one of just four to go unbeaten in conference play. The Ducks went 9-0 in conference play for the second time in program history, joining the 2010 team that went on to play for a national championship. Oregon’s 13-game win streak is the longest active winning streak into the postseason.
• After Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to Michigan, Penn State secured second place in the Big Ten with a 44-7 win over Maryland. Penn State finished with an 8-1 conference record (11-1 overall) which tied its best since 2016. Penn State reached 11 wins in a season for the 20th time in program history and 11 regular season wins for the seventh time. The Nittany Lions won 11 games in a season for the fifth time under James Franklin.
• Four Big Ten teams appear in the AP Poll this week. Oregon leads the conference at No. 1, followed by No. 3 Penn State, No. 9 Indiana and No. 22 Illinois.
• The Big Ten Conference remains firmly positioned within this week’s College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, with Oregon at No. 1, Penn State at No. 3, Indiana at No. 9 and Illinois at No. 21. The final CFP rankings will be released Sunday — later in the day, the matchups for the CFP national quarterfinals, semifinals, and the Big Ten’s other bowl destinations will be announced.
• A record 12 Big Ten Conference schools – Oregon, Penn State, Indiana, Ohio State, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Rutgers, USC, Washington, and Nebraska – have clinched bowl berths by reaching six victories on the season.
• This season’s CFP will consist of four rounds. The first round will be hosted by the higher seeds (5 vs. 12, 8 vs. 9, 6 vs. 11, and 7 vs. 10) on Friday, Dec. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 21. The remaining teams will advance to the quarterfinals to play the 1-4 seeds as part of the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The semifinals will be hosted by the Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9 and Cotton Bowl on Friday, Jan 10. The National Championship will be held on Monday, Jan. 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.

#B1GFCG

COURTESY BIG TEN CONFERENCE