The Million-Dollar Question: Could Ohio State and Michigan Really Rematch for the Big Ten Title?

Ah, The Game. Ohio State versus Michigan. It's more than just a rivalry; it's a cultural phenomenon, a season-defining clash that captivates the entire college football world. After their annual battle, a question invariably pops into the minds of fans on both sides of the divide, often laced with a mixture of dread and longing: could these two titans possibly meet again, this time with a Big Ten Championship on the line?

Let's be brutally honest right from the start: the chances of an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the Big Ten Championship game are, for all intents and purposes, incredibly slim. Think of it like seeing a unicorn — delightful to imagine, but rarely, if ever, seen in the wild. The primary reason, and it’s a big one, is the head-to-head tiebreaker. Michigan won the regular-season contest, which is a massive hurdle to overcome.

The Big Ten Conference, bless its heart, has a fairly detailed set of tie-breaking procedures designed to determine division champions when multiple teams finish with identical records. It’s a bit of a tangled web, but understanding it is key to grasping just how remote a rematch truly is. For the Big Ten East Division, where both Ohio State and Michigan reside, the rules are generally straightforward, at least initially.

If only two teams are tied at the top of the division standings, the very first criterion used to break that deadlock is the head-to-head record between those two teams. Simple, right? Since Michigan defeated Ohio State, any direct two-way tie between them would automatically send the Wolverines to Indianapolis. No muss, no fuss, no rematch.

So, for a rematch to even enter the realm of possibility, we’d need a much more complex situation – specifically, a three-way tie at the top of the Big Ten East standings. This is where things get interesting, if not entirely improbable. Imagine a scenario where, for example, Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State all finish the regular season with identical conference records. Now, the head-to-head tiebreaker becomes a multi-layered calculation.

In such a three-way tie, the Big Ten first looks at the collective head-to-head record among all three tied teams. If one team has a superior record against the other two combined, they might gain an advantage. But more often than not, it's a circular firing squad where each team beat one of the others, leading to another tie among the group. If the initial head-to-head among the three doesn't fully resolve it, the conference starts eliminating teams. The goal is to narrow it down until only two teams remain, at which point the original head-to-head rule (Michigan over Ohio State) would likely re-enter play for those final two.

But what if, against all odds, that initial head-to-head doesn't completely clear things up, or it creates another two-way tie that doesn't involve Ohio State and Michigan directly? That’s when the tiebreakers proceed down a list of other criteria. We're talking about comparing records against common opponents – and we need at least four common opponents for this to apply. Then, they’d look at records against the next highest-placed team(s) in the division, working downwards. After that, it’s about division records, then overall winning percentage, and finally, the ultimate modern tiebreaker: the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings. And yes, in the absolute rarest of circumstances, a coin flip!

Given all this, the sheer number of moving parts, the necessity for specific upsets and outcomes, and the strong preference for head-to-head results in the Big Ten's rules, it becomes abundantly clear. While the thought of Ohio State and Michigan battling for the conference crown a second time in a single season is a thrilling concept for some and a terrifying prospect for others, it’s a dream that remains incredibly far-fetched. For now, we'll have to content ourselves with their single, iconic, annual showdown, because the tiebreaker gods are rarely so dramatic.