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ESPN’s FPI updates odds to win B1G following Week 7
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We know one half of the Big Ten title matchup as Northwestern officially wrapped up the Big Ten West on Saturday.
The other half is still up in the air between Ohio State and Indiana, but ESPN’s FPI odds certainly shows that this is a two-team race at this point.
At this point, Ohio State is favored by a WIDE margin as the FPI gives the Buckeyes a 90.2 percent chance to win the conference crown. The next closest and the only other team with a non-zero chance is the Wildcats. The FPI gives them a 9.8 percent chance.
Based on the numbers, it appears that this will come down to a Big Ten Championship game featuring Ohio State and Northwestern. However, that is not a guarantee at this point.
The Wildcats are firmly in. At this point, a win or loss by the Buckeyes will send them to the title game. However, it appears at this point that Saturday’s Michigan-Ohio State may not be played.
The Wolverines missed their game this past week against Maryland due to COVID-19 procedures and other injuries. As for the Buckeyes, they were missing 23 guys, head coach Ryan Day, and three assistant coaches due to COVID-19 procedures and injuries.
If the game can’t be played, some chaos will likely ensue. At that point, Ohio State would only have played five games. Current Big Ten rules state that a team needs to play six games to qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game. However, reports have been swirling around about the conference considering changing the rule if the Buckeyes can’t play on Saturday.
If the rule does hold up and Ohio State does not play in Week 8, Indiana would then be the Big Ten East champ and play Northwestern for the conference title.
All in all, this could get messy real quick.