Big Ten Weekly Football Release - First-Round Games

• Postseason competition opens this weekend as three Big Ten teams compete in first-round games of the new expanded College Football Playoff. Ohio State and Penn State will both play host to Tennessee and SMU, respectively, on Saturday, while Indiana travels to South Bend, Ind., to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The complete schedule can be found to the right.
• After breaking program records for conference wins (8), offensive touchdowns (68), and overall record (11-1), the Hoosiers will seek their first win against No. 7 Notre Dame (11-1) in South Bend since 1906. Indiana has the most offensive touchdowns of any team in the country and the second-fewest yards allowed per game (244.8). 
• The No. 8 seed Ohio State will host the No. 9 seed Tennessee in a College Football Playoff first-round game Friday, December 21 at 8 p.m. in Ohio Stadium. The game will mark the first time Ohio State will play a December home game in Ohio Stadium with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs to play Oregon at the Rose Bowl. 
• Looking for the program’s ninth national title, Ohio State (10-2) will battle Tennessee (10-2) in their second meeting all-time. In the 1995 Citrus Bowl, a Peyton Manning-led Tennessee bested Heisman-winner Eddie George and the Buckeyes. The game will mark the first time Ohio State will play a December home game in Ohio Stadium with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs to play Oregon at the Rose Bowl. With the top defense in the country, Ohio State ranks first in yards allowed per game (241.1) with the Vols not far behind in fourth (278.0 yards allowed per game).
• The Nittany Lions (11-2) and Mustangs (11-2) face off tomorrow for the first time since 1978. Armed with All-Americans on both sides of the ball in John Mackey Award-winner Tyler Warren and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Abdul Carter, Penn State looks to take home its third national championship. 
• Penn State’s offense, averaging 448.6 yards per game, will have openings against a 28th-ranked SMU defense. The Mustangs have allowed 326.1 yards per game this season, compared to Penn State’s 282.1 average yards allowed and sixth-ranked defense.
• Six Big Ten standouts took home national honors this season. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti was captured the Eddie Robinson Award, Ohio State’s Seth McLaughlin claimed the Rimington Trophy, Oregon’s Bryce Boettcher earned the Burlsworth Trophy, Penn State’s Nick Dawkins took home the Wuerffel Trophy and Tyler Warren won the John Mackey Award, while USC’s Eddie Czaplicki collected the Ray Guy Award. 
• A total of 8,271,772 fans attended Big Ten home games this season. Excluding 2020, this marks the 11th consecutive season and 12th time in 13 seasons that more than six million fans have attended Big Ten home football games.
• Oregon was crowned Big Ten Champion after its 45-37 win against Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game presented by Discover on Dec. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Jordan James ran for two scores to help Oregon win its first league title since 2020. Tez Johnson was selected the game’s MVP after catching 11 passes for 181 yards one score.
• A total of 772 football student-athletes were named Academic All-Big Ten honorees on December 12, including unblemished GPAs for eight honorees. The full list of fall Academic All-Big Ten honorees can be found at bigten.org.

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