Oregon Officially Secures Spot in Big Ten Football Championship Game

The conference made the announcement on Tuesday.
Oregon has clinched a spot in the Big Ten title game in its first year in the conference.
Oregon has clinched a spot in the Big Ten title game in its first year in the conference. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
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Oregon has secured a berth in its conference title game in the most anticlimactic way possible.

On Tuesday, the Big Ten announced the Ducks had clinched a berth in the conference's championship game with the following statement: "Following a comprehensive evaluation of all possible scenarios over the final two weeks of regular-season play across the conference's 18 teams, there are no conditions whereby the Ducks do not finish No. 1 or No. 2."

So this wasn't clinched after a big win where the team knew the stakes going in. No, Oregon is in on a Tuesday afternoon thanks to someone at the conference crunching a few numbers.

Yay?

The Ducks are 11-0 and the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings. Oregon is in its first season in the Big Ten and while it hasn't mowed down a number of top opponents, the Ducks did beat Ohio State 32–31 on October 12 for their first signature win in their new conference. Making the Big Ten championship game in their first season is quite an achievement.

Oregon is off this weekend before hosting Washington in Eugene to wrap up the regular season on Nov. 30. The Ducks will then travel to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the conference title game. Odds are they'll be facing the winner of Saturday's game between Indiana and the Buckeyes, though Penn State still has an outside shot to make it.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.