Indiana, Ohio State battle for Big Ten title and top seed in College Football Playoff

By Canadian Press on November 30, 2025.

Conventional wisdom has top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana both earning first-round byes in the College Football Playoff regardless of what happens in Saturday night’s Big Ten Championship Game.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is not buying that for one second.

“The way you play should mean something. It will be the last thing you put on the field. I don’t expect any handouts,” Cignetti said during a Zoom call on Sunday. “We’ve earned everything up to this point and we’ve got to earn it on Saturday.”

If this had been last year, the winner would get the first-round bye and the loser likely the No. 5 seed and a first-round game since the top four ranked conference champions got the top four seeds in the first year of the 12-team field.

However, the rules were adjusted this year where the top four teams — even if they are from the same conference — receive the byes.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day is of the opposite opinion, pointing out that if a team is already seeded highly, it shouldn’t get dinged for playing this Saturday.

“You’re not supposed to be penalized for playing in the conference championship,” he said. “So yeah, both teams deserve to get a first round bye.”

Day though also knows that a win on Saturday would lock up the top seed as Ohio State tries to become the first team since Georgia to win two straight national titles.

“I think it’s important to win this game and be the one seed. It’s going to help your chances. Everything matters,” Day said.

Both teams are 12-0 and unbeaten in nine Big Ten games.

Indiana started its preparations after a 56-3 romp of Purdue on Friday night. Ohio State snapped a four-game losing streak to Michigan with a 27-9 victory.

The Buckeyes coaching staff started watching film in Ann Arbor on Saturday night as the plane was delayed from taking off due to a snowstorm.

This will be only the third time there has been a matchup between the top two ranked teams in a conference championship game. The previous times were in the Southeastern Conference when Alabama faced Florida.

Both times the No. 2 team won the matchup. Florida beat Alabama 31-20 in 2008 and the Crimson Tide returned to get revenge the following year with a 32-13 victory.

Cignetti was an assistant at Alabama during those two matchups.

The Buckeyes are 3-2 as the top-ranked team when facing No. 2. The last time was in the 2007 BCS title game when they lost to LSU 38-24.

Indiana comes into the game with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense, averaging 44.3 points per game. Ohio State leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 7.8 points per game.

It will also be a chance for both quarterbacks to make their final case for the Heisman Trophy.

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is considered the favorite with 2,758 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Ohio State’s Julian Sayin leads the nation with a 78.9% completion rate and has thrown for 3,065 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Heisman ballots from voters are due on Dec. 8.

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Joe Reedy, The Associated Press