Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Indiana have these two Big Ten teams to worry about during the college football regular season

The College Football Playoff and Big Ten title race between Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana is heating up.

While Oregon sits in the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Buckeyes, the undefeated Hoosiers still have more work to do to round out the best season in program history.

As we start in mid-November, each team still has three or four games left. Below you can find out how the end of the year is developing.

Oregon 2024 schedule

No. 1 Oregon (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) is ahead and will win the conference. The remaining schedule calls for two of the final three games to be played, with a trip to Camp Randall scheduled a week from Saturday. While these games look easy on paper, it’s the season finale against the Huskies that could spoil Oregon’s supposedly perfect season.

The Huskies are one win away from securing bowl eligibility and less than a year removed from a national championship loss to Michigan. Washington has won two of its last four games, including a 26-21 triumph against USC last week.

Historically, Washington leads the all-time series against the Ducks at 63-48-5, having won the last three meetings. Washington defeated the Ducks 34-21 last season, which was both teams’ final season in the PAC-12 before making the jump to the Big Ten over the summer.

If the Ducks become overconfident, Washington might be able to do enough to sort out which teams make it to Indianapolis by season’s end.

Ohio State looks to end its drought against Michigan

No. 3 Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) has rebounded strongly since its 32-31 loss to the Ducks in Eugene on Oct. 12. The Buckeyes are on a two-game winning streak that was recently snapped by Penn State, 20-13, in Happy Valley last Saturday.

With three games left, the Buckeyes have no margin for error if they want to win the Big Ten championship next month and secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.

This likely means wins against Indiana and Michigan are a must. However, since Ryan Day took over from Urban Meyer in 2019, Day has dominated against almost every other Big Ten team except Michigan. His 1-3 record against then-coach Jim Harbaugh speaks volumes about what prevented the Buckeyes from taking the next step forward toward their first national title in a decade.

Fortunately, Michigan’s less-than-stellar season under first-year coach Sherrone Moore could benefit the Buckeyes, especially given that the Wolverines have struggled to find stability at quarterback and are no longer ranked.

Can Indiana stay undefeated?

That’s a question on everyone’s mind as they consider the remaining schedule. The No. 8-ranked Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) were the best comeback story in all of college football this season under first-year coach Curt Cignetti. Although the Hoosiers have yet to face a ranked team this season, they have yet to face any of their opponents. This Saturday they face Michigan, and with a healthy quarterback in Kurtis Rourke, Indiana should be 10-0 against Columbus, with a win putting a potential spot in Indianapolis on the line.

James Franklin’s disappointment is typical of Penn State

The No. 6 ranked Nittany Lions (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) took advantage of a unique opportunity to eliminate Day and the Buckeyes at home last week. Now they have to hope the tiebreakers go their way and win to have an outside shot at a berth in Indianapolis. The game to remember is Minnesota, which has rattled off four straight wins after a slow start.

The end of Week 11 will give us more clarity on which Big Ten team can stand out from the pack. For now, though, it’s a four-team race over the next month.