BIG TEN. BIG NEWS.
• Michigan and Purdue have earned berths into the 12th Big Ten Football Championship Game presented by Discover at 8 p.m. (ET) Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the game televised live to a nationwide audience on FOX and broadcast on radio via Compass Media Networks. The Wolverines are returning to the Big Ten Football Championship Game for the second consecutive year, while Purdue will be making its first appearance in the title contest this weekend.
• Purdue is the fifth first-time participant at the Big Ten Football Championship Game in eight years (Iowa2015; Penn State-2016; Northwestern-2018; Michigan-2021; Purdue-2022). When Michigan defeated Iowa, 42-3 in last year’s title game, the Wolverines became the first new Big Ten champion crowned at the event since 2016, when Penn State captured its first championship (38-31 over Wisconsin). The winner of Saturday’s Big Ten Football Championship Game will receive the prestigious Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy.
• 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 10 times (seven quarterbacks, three running backs) in the game’s 11-year history, including the only two-time recipient, Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook (2013 and 2015). Michigan end Aidan Hutchinson made history last year, becoming the first defensive player to be selected as the Grange-Griffin Most Valuable Player.
• Michigan will take the field Saturday in a quest for its Big Ten-record 44th conference championship and the program’s first back-to-back outright Big Ten titles since 1991-92. Purdue is seeking its ninth Big Ten football championship and first since 2000, when it shared the crown with Michigan and Northwestern. The Boilermakers have won one outright Big Ten football title in their history, that coming in 1929.
• With its 30-16 victory over Indiana on Nov. 26, Purdue claimed its first Big Ten Conference West Division championship, becoming the 10th different conference member to earn a division title since the Big Ten moved to a divisional alignment in 2011. Michigan earned its third Big Ten East Division championship and first outright crown with a 45-23 victory at Ohio State on Nov. 26.
• Saturday’s matchup will mark the 60th in the series between Michigan and Purdue, with the Wolverines owning a 45-14 edge over the Boilermakers, including victories in the past five series contests. However, this will be the first time Michigan and Purdue have met on the gridiron in more than five years, dating back to the Wolverines’ 28-10 win over the Boilermakers on Sept. 23, 2017, in West Lafayette. Purdue’s most recent victory over Michigan came on Nov. 7, 2009, a 38-36 decision in Ann Arbor.
• The Big Ten Conference remains firmly positioned within this week’s College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings, with Michigan at No. 2, Ohio State at No. 5 and Penn State at No. 8. The final CFP rankings will be released Sunday — later in the day, the matchups for the CFP national semifinals, New Year’s Six bowls and the Big Ten’s other bowl destinations will be announced.
• This season’s College Football Playoff (CFP) Semifinals will take place Saturday, December 31, 2022, at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Los Angeles region will host the CFP National Championship on Monday, January 9, 2023, at SoFi Stadium. The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1-ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game.
• Nine Big Ten Conference schools – Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin – have clinched bowl berths by reaching six victories on the season.
• The Big Ten Conference also currently has three of the top 10 teams in both the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) polls — No. 2/2 Michigan, No. 5/5 Ohio State and No. 8/7 Penn State. Purdue, Illinois and Minnesota are all receiving votes in both polls this week, while Iowa is garnering votes in the latest AFCA balloting.
• Seven Big Ten Conference schools rank among the top 25 in the nation in scoring defense among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, including five in the top 10. Illinois is second, allowing just 12.2 points per game, followed by Michigan (3rd – 12.7 ppg.), Minnesota (5th – 13.3 ppg.), Iowa (6th – 14.4 ppg.), Penn State (10th – 18.0 ppg.), Ohio State (13th – 19.2 ppg.) and Wisconsin (25th – 20.5 ppg.).
• Three Big Ten programs are scoring better than 35 points per game this season and all three rank among the top 20 in the nation in scoring offense among FBS schools — No. 2 Ohio State (44.5 ppg.), No. 7 Michigan (39.8 ppg.) and No. 19 Penn State (35.8 ppg.).
