In its first Big Ten season, top-ranked Oregon officially has clinched a spot in the league championship game.
By virtue of its 16-13 win at Wisconsin on Saturday, the Ducks (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) are assured of finishing either first or second no matter what happens against rival Washington (6-5, 4-4) on Nov. 30, the Big Ten announced Tuesday. Even with a loss, Oregon claims a head-to-head tiebreaker against Ohio State and wins on all other available criteria against Penn State and Indiana.
“Following a comprehensive evaluation of all possible scenarios over the final two weeks of regular-season play across the conference’s 18 teams, there are no conditions whereby the Ducks do not finish No. 1 or No. 2,” the league said in its announcement that Oregon’s spot in Indianapolis was secure.
Initially, Big Ten officials described one situation to The Athletic containing a possibility that Penn State could bypass Oregon for a second spot in a multi-team tiebreaker scenario following last Saturday’s results. A scenario consisting of Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and Penn State all finishing 8-1 in Big Ten play was explained as follows: After Ohio State earned the No. 1 spot thanks to its strength of schedule (its opponents sport a 51.6 winning percentage), Penn State would get the nod because its current opponent winning percentage is slightly higher than Oregon’s (currently 43.9 to 41.5). But that outcome was incorrectly interpreted.
After two days of researching and identifying every possible outcome, the league determined that the second spot in that scenario would be decided by reverting to the beginning of the tiebreaker process. The league’s third tiebreaker for the No. 2 spot compares teams by their best winning percentage against the common opponent with the best conference record. Oregon’s win over the Buckeyes would earn it the No. 2 spot over Penn State, which lost to Ohio State in November, and Indiana, which plays Ohio State this week.
These are all the tiebreaker scenarios that clinched Oregon’s B1GCG spot.
I still argue that coinflip would have more public support than some of these confusing tiebreakers. pic.twitter.com/qWCMEwDBry
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) November 19, 2024
(Photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)
