Big Ten standings, explained: Updated 2025 tiebreakers for Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, USC and Michigan

No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana appear on a collision course for the Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 6. 

Will anybody have a chance to break that up? The Hoosiers have just two conference games remaining heading into Week 12 against the league's bottom-feeders. The Buckeyes have not been challenged in Big Ten play yet. 

Three other Big Ten teams have one conference loss heading into the final three weeks. That list includes No. 8 Oregon, No. 17 USC and No. 18 Michigan. Those teams remain alive in the College Football Playoff hunt, but they won’t be in the Big Ten championship game unless the Buckeyes or Hoosiers slip up. 

Here is a breakdown of the Big Ten race, with standings, tiebreakers, paths to the championship game and a look at the cumulative conference winning percentage for each of those contenders: 

MORE TIEBREAKERS: ACC | Big 12

Big Ten football standings 2025

The Big Ten has five teams with two losses or less heading into Week 12. Here is a closer look at those standings:

Big Ten tiebreaker rules for 2025 

Here are the Big Ten tie-breaker procedures to follow in order to determine who makes the conference championship game, according to the conference's official website.

Step 1: Head to head: "The tied teams will be compared based on head-to-head matchups during the regular season."

Step 2: Common conference opponents: "The tied teams will be compared based on record against all common conference opponents"

Step 3: Common conference opponents: "The tied teams will be compared based on record against common opponents with the best conference record and proceeding through the common conference opponents based on their order of finish within the conference standings."

Step 4: Cumulative conference winning percentage: "The tied teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents."

Step 5: SportsSource Analytics ranking: "The representative will be chosen based on the highest ranking by SportSource Analytics (team Rating Score metric) following the regular season."

Step 6: Random draw: "The representative will be chosen by random draw among the tied teams conducted by the commissioner or designee."

MORE: Picks against the spread for Week 12's Top 25 games

Big Ten contenders path to the championship game 

Indiana (10-0, 7-0) 

Remaining schedule: vs. Wisconsin, at Purdue 

Indiana controls its own destiny, and a victory against the Badgers would all but guarantee a spot in the Big Ten championship game knowing they have a 30-20 head-to-head victory against Oregon. Indiana will be heavy favorites in its last two games and should be able to make the Big Ten championship game for the first time. 

Ohio State (9-0, 6-0) 

Remaining schedule: vs. UCLA, vs. Rutgers, at Michigan 

The Buckeyes also control their own destiny. Ohio State will be heavy favorites at home the next two weeks against UCLA and Rutgers, but another loss to Michigan could keep Ohio State out of the Big Ten championship game. A loss to the Wolverines would open the door for either Oregon, USC or Michigan to make the Big Ten championship game. 

Oregon (8-1, 5-1) 

Remaining schedule: vs. Minnesota, vs. USC, at Washington 

The Ducks will have a hard time bypassing Indiana in the standings. Oregon’s best bet to repeat as Big Ten champions would be to win out and have Michigan upset Ohio State in the regular-season finale. In that event, Oregon and Indiana would meet in a rematch from their regular-season matchup. 

USC (7-2, 5-1) 

Remaining schedule: vs. Iowa, at Oregon, vs. USC

The best shot for the Trojans is similar. USC needs to win out and have Michigan beat Ohio State in the regular-season finale. That is a better path than having Ohio State win out and Indiana lose a game – because the Hoosiers beat Illinois – a common opponent with USC. The Trojans lost 32-31 to Illinois on Sept. 27. 

Michigan (7-2, 5-1) 

Remaining schedule: at Northwestern, at Maryland, vs. Ohio State 

The Wolverines have no margin for error in the Big Ten race. The Wolverines likely need to win out to have a chance to make it to Indianapolis – and that will require a fifth straight victory against the rival Buckeyes in the regular-season finale on Nov. 29. Even if Michigan beats the Buckeyes, they need either USC and Indiana to both lose in the final three weeks or an Indiana loss and a USC victory against Oregon.

MORE: College Football Playoff forecast after Week 11

Big Ten chaos scenario 

What happens if all five teams finish 8-1 in conference play – a scenario that would require Ohio State to beat Michigan, Indiana to lose one of its final two games to either Wisconsin or Purdue and USC to beat Oregon. If all of that happens, then as of now with cumulative conference winning percentage as the key metric USC and Michigan would play in the Big Ten championship game.

Big Ten common opponents tracker for 2025

Here is a look at the common opponents for all the Big Ten teams with two losses or less. We added the cumulative conference winning percentage – the fourth Big Ten tiebreaker – to show which teams are in the best position heading into Week 12: 

Most likely Big Ten championship game scenario

Indiana has the easiest path to the Big Ten championship game – and it would take a huge upset to knock the Hoosiers out at this point. We’ll pencil Indiana into one of those spots. 

If Oregon beats USC, then the Trojans are out of the mix. 

Ohio State is our pick to play Indiana, and what a blockbuster Big Ten championship game that would be with the Heisman Trophy in the fold with top candidates Julian Sayin, Fernando Mendoza and Jeremiah Smith. Of course, the Buckeyes have to break that losing streak to Michigan.

We’ll stick with the Buckeyes and Hoosiers for now – and that would be a potential Game of the Century between No. 1 and No. 2 before the College Football Playoff even starts.