What Ohio State’s loss to Michigan means for Oregon’s opponent in the Big Ten title game

The No. 1 Oregon Ducks travel to the Big Ten Championship Game to cap off their incredible first season in the annual football conference. It has been unclear in recent weeks who the Ducks will face in the conference title game.

But in one of the biggest games of every season, the Ohio State Buckeyes met the Michigan Wolverines. A win and the Buckeyes would be headed to the Big Ten Championship. A loss and Ohio State’s fate would depend on the outcome of Penn State’s game against Maryland.

In a close game that came down to the final moments, Ohio State’s offense just couldn’t get it going. Suddenly the Buckeyes lost 6-5 to the unranked Wolverines and their chance at the conference title game was suddenly in jeopardy.

With two conference losses (Oregon and Michigan), the Buckeyes fell to third place in the conference standings, behind only Oregon (zero conference losses) and Penn State (one conference loss to Ohio State). So if the Nittany Lions won later that day, the Buckeyes would be eliminated from the Big Ten championship game and Penn State would punch their ticket to play Oregon for the title.

Another option? The Nittany Lions could surprisingly lose to the Maryland Terrapins. The Ducks could face the Indiana Hoosiers if they defeat the Purdue Boilermakers and improve to 11-1 (only one conference loss to Ohio State).

Oregon and Penn State did not play in the regular season, so the Ducks have yet to see head coach James Franklin or quarterback Drew Allar in person. However, the odds of Oregon picking up another win over the Buckeyes had declined rapidly over the course of the regular season, so a game against the Nittany Lions may be the best option for Dan Lanning and his team.

The Ducks also didn’t face the Hoosiers in their regular season, so it would be another brand new opponent for Lanning and Oregon.

Penn State and Maryland are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. PT on the Big Ten Network. Oregon and Washington are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. PT on NBC.