In their first year in the Big Ten Conference, the Oregon Ducks are leading the way as we near the end of the regular season. With a place in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game to win, Dan Lanning’s Ducks are currently in an excellent position.

All they have to do is win on Saturday against the Wisconsin Badgersand there they are. At 10-0 and 7-0 in the Big Ten, the Ducks just need to go 1-1 in their next two games to clinch a spot in the title game of the conference.

However, the one they could face in Indianapolis is a bit more complicated. Let’s review the potential opponents.

Indiana Hoosiers (10-0, 7-0)

What a story the Hoosiers have been this year under Kurt Cignetti. With an undefeated record going into their bye week, Indiana is in a similar position to Oregon: win and you’re there.

However, it gets a little more complicated because of who Indiana is playing. The Hoosiers are heading back to Ohio State in Week 13 for one of the greatest games in program history. If they beat the Buckeyes, they will clinch a spot in Indianapolis. However, if they lose, a potential tiebreaker scenario comes into play, assuming Ohio State can continue to beat the Michigan WolverinesIndiana can beat Purdue, and both teams finish the year 11-1 (8-1).

In this case, Ohio State would come into play due to the head-to-head tiebreaker against Indiana.

Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1, 5-1)

At this point, it appears the Buckeyes are the best bet to meet Oregon in Indianapolis. All they have to do is beat Indiana — no easy feat — then beat Michigan in the final week of the season to secure a spot in the championship game Big Ten. If they won those two games, it would give them the same record as the Hoosiers – and the Penn State Nittany Lionsassuming they win their final three games of the year, we’ll talk about that in a second – but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

For this reason, the game between the Buckeyes and Hoosiers in Week 13 is practically considered a play-in game for the conference championship. Whoever wins will almost certainly be there, if they take care of business the following week.

Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1)

THE Nittany Lions are the last team that technically has a chance to make the Big Ten championship game, although it’s certainly far away at this point. For Penn State to get to Indianapolis, they need to win the three remaining games on their schedule — at Purdue, at Minnesota and against Maryland — and they need Ohio State and Indiana to lose one of their two games remaining.

If the Nittany Lions finish with an 11-1 (8-1) record, they would lose in a tiebreaker to Ohio State. If Penn State ended up tied with Indiana, they wouldn’t have a head-to-head matchup, so it would be a record against common opponents, which would become incredibly consuming. Fortunately for all of us, this is also unlikely to happen.

In conclusion…

To summarize, the Ducks have a great chance of advancing to the conference title game, assuming they can win one of their next two games. They will most likely play Indiana or Ohio State, and it will almost certainly be decided by who wins that game in Week 13.

Who are you putting your money on?