Penn State Lost Ground in the Big Ten Tiebreaker, Too

The Lions' title hopes dimmed at Ohio State. Losses by Iowa, Illinois and Northwestern didn't help, either.

Penn State's chances for a Big Ten title took hits on multiple fronts Saturday. The Nittany Lions not only fell behind Ohio State and Michigan after losing to the Buckeyes but also but also lost ground in the Big Ten East Division's tiebreaker scenario.

Penn State's 20-12 loss to the Buckeyes ended an 11-game win streak and forced the team into a difficult spot in the Big Ten East. To have a chance at winning its first division title since 2016, the Lions must win out, beating Michigan on Nov. 11 in the process, and hope for the Buckeyes and Wolverines to lose twice. Otherwise, the Big Ten East goes to divisional tiebreakers. And the Lions lost ground their Saturday as well.

What is the Big Ten's divisional tiebreaker?

If Penn State beats Michigan, Michigan beats Ohio State and the three teams finish 11-1, the division tiebreaker involves the Big Ten West Division. To break a three-way division tie, the Big Ten would compare the combined conference records of the three teams' West Division opponents. And the Lions took a hit in that department Saturday.

Penn State's three West Division opponents went 0-3 last weekend: Illinois fell to Wisconsin, Iowa lost to Minnesota and Northwestern lost to Nebraska. Illinois, Iowa and Northwestern now have a combined conference record of 5-9. Ohio State's West opponents (Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota) are 6-6. Michigan's opponents (Nebraska, Minnesota and Purdue) are 5-7. 

So Penn State fans must root for Michigan to beat Ohio State and for Illinois, Iowa and Northwestern to get back on track, although those teams still play each other. And, of course, they need Penn State to win out, notably Nov. 11 against Michigan.

Penn State has history in bouncing back. Last season the Lions won their last five games after a loss to Ohio State. In fact, they put together an 11-game win streak between losses to Ohio State.

"Obviously it sucks to lose, it’s not fun to lose at all, but we’ve got to take tomorrow to get better," Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said after the game. "We can only control what we can control, and at the end of the day we have to go out and do what we did the first six weeks. Obviously today was not good enough at all, but if we attack each week and don’t lose faith in each other, we can still be in the position we want to be in at the end of the year."

Penn State looks to start a new win streak Saturday against Indiana. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on CBS.

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