No. 1 Ohio State will face No. 2 Indiana in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship battle in the clash of unbeaten football teams.

The No.1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes are set to face off with the No.2-ranked Indiana Hoosiers in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in college football. The teams are battling for the Big Ten Championship, College Football Playoff seeding, Heisman trophy aspirations, and much more.

The game takes place in Indianapolis, so that it will be a very easy trip for Hoosiers fans, but not a bad trip for Buckeyes fans either. It will be interesting to see the crowd split, given the proximity to both campuses and the fact that Buckeye fans travel as well as anyone.

Let’s take a look at how both teams finished the regular season against their rivals, as well as their numbers from the regular season. There are storylines galore in this one, with both teams boasting elite talent and coaching.

Buckeyes Invade The Big House

Ohio State used a complete game on both sides of the ball to overpower the Michigan Wolverines and win their first game in the rivalry since 2019 with a 27-9 road win. Julian Sayin overcame an early interception and made some big plays throughout the game, with Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith, and Brandon Inniss all finding the endzone.

Bo Jackson and the Buckeye offensive line came to play, bullying all day long. Jackson outgained the entire Wolverine offense by himself, rushing for 117 yards and also had 49 yards receiving. CJ Donaldson added 44 rushing yards with some big runs late, and freshman Isaiah West got his first sniff of the game with 20 rushing yards.

The silver bullets defense put their stamp on this game for four quarters, from halting early momentum from the Michigan offense to picking off Bryce Underwood late. Even though they trailed most of the game, Michigan threw for just 63 yards and eight completions. They managed 100 yards on the ground, with most of that coming on two runs. The offense never found the endzone, as Sonny Styles, Jaylen McClain, Davison Igbinosun, and others flew to the ball all game long. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. had the only sack for the defense and two of the three tackles for loss.

Julian Sayin is comfortably in the Heisman conversation and should be receiving an invite to New York soon. He is over the 3,000 passing yards mark, even though he rarely finishes games. He has 30 passing touchdowns after his three in this game, with just five interceptions in his first season. Sayin finished the regular season with the best completion percentage in FBS history, completing 78.9 percent of his passes.

Jeremiah Smith sat out a game and a half with a nagging injury, but has still put up some monster numbers in his first of two seasons with Sayin. He finished the regular season with 72 receptions, 942 receiving yards, and 11 receiving touchdowns, all of which easily led the team. His partner in crime, Carnell Tate, has missed even more time, but still put up 44 receptions, 793 receiving yards, and eight receiving touchdowns this season. Max Klare (420 yards), Brandon Inniss (232 yards), and Will Kacmarek (120 yards) have all found the endzone at least twice this season.

The ground game has changed over the course of the year and looks very different from what it did at the start of the season against Texas. Four guys have 56 or more carries, and seven guys have a rushing touchdown, none of which are Julian Sayin. Bo Jackson has become one of the best freshmen in the country over the last month and has earned a larger workload. He has almost 1,000 yards (952 as of now), is averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and has five rushing touchdowns.

James Peoples (344 yards), CJ Donaldson (330 yards), and Isaiah West (306 yards), have all gotten their share of touches and have combined for 15 rushing touchdowns with 10 of those being Donaldson. The offensive line showed last game that they can protect Sayin, open holes for the backs, and be dominant for this elite offense.

The Ohio State defense has been the best in the country, and one of the best of this century, proving why once again against Michigan at the Big House. Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese led the team in the regular season with 69 and 61 total tackles, respectively. Reese finished second on the team in sacks with six and a half, only behind Caden Curry, who has been playing some great ball and had 53 tackles and nine sacks this regular season. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. has made some big plays and had five and a half sacks, while Kayden McDonald proved to be elite in the middle with 52 tackles and three sacks.

Caleb Downs is up for a million awards and for good reason. The Swiss Army Knife was tied for fourth on the team in tackles with 52, and also had two interceptions and a sack. He came up huge time after time again, and his fellow safety Jaylen McClain played very well in his first season as a starter, finishing with 44 tackles. Jermaine Matthews Jr., Davison Igbinosun, Lorenzo Styles Jr., and the rest of the elite secondary forced some turnovers and prevented big plays time and time again. Matthews Jr. led the team with two picks during the regular season, along with Downs.

Hoosiers Dismantle Boilermakers

Indiana used 21-point second and third quarters to run away from Purdue in a dominant fashion, winning on the road 56-3. The Hoosiers led the Boilermakers 28-3 at halftime and never looked back en route to a perfect regular season. Heisman hopeful Fernando Mendoza didn’t need to do much in this one, completing just eight passes but had 117 passing yards and three total touchdowns. Davion Chandler, Omar Cooper Jr., and Elijah Sarratt all hauled in touchdown passes as Mendoza’s brother, Alberto Mendoza, also threw a touchdown.

The ground game was the story in this one as the Hoosiers ran for 355 yards and five touchdowns while averaging a whopping 9.6 yards per carry. Running back Roman Hemby led the way with 152 yards on just 12 carries, and four Hoosiers totaled over 50 yards on the ground. Four different guys found the endzone on the ground, led by running back Kaelon Black’s two-touchdown day.

Purdue moved the ball through the air a bit, gaining 238 passing yards, but threw the ball 47 times, had an interception, and didn’t total any touchdowns on the night. They were unable to get anything going on the ground, as they had just 44 rushing yards, 1.6 yards per carry, and no runs that went double-digit yards. Linebacker Rolijah Hardy had ten tackles and a tackle for loss for the Hoosiers, and defensive lineman Stephen Daley had a monster day with four and a half of Indiana’s ten sacks. Linebacker Aiden Fisher and defensive back Devan Boykin also flew around the field, finishing with seven tackles apiece.

Like Julian Sayin, Fernando Mendoza has Heisman hopes, and also didn’t need to finish too many games this year with how dominant Indiana has been. He finished the 12-0 campaign with 2,758 passing yards and completed 72 percent of his passes. Mendoza threw 32 touchdowns and ran for six more, with five interceptions on the year.

Omar Cooper Jr. and Elija Sarratt were a perfect duo for Mendoza out wide, both finishing with 11 receiving touchdowns. Cooper Jr. led the team in receptions (58) and receiving yards (804), with Sarratt not too far behind boasting 48 receptions and 650 receiving yards. Six Hoosiers had over 150 receiving yards, and Riley Nowakowski was the top tight end with 296 receiving yards.

Also, similarly to the Buckeyes’ offense, the Hoosiers’ offense featured many running backs getting into the mix. Roman Hemby had the biggest workload with 163 carries and 866 rushing yards, but the next three backs all had better yards per carry. Kaelon Black had 127 carries for 866 rushing yards and led the team with seven rushing touchdowns. Four players, including Black and Hemby, had at least six rushing touchdowns, and the Hoosiers used a balanced attack to secure dominant wins.

Linebackers Rolijah Hardy and Aiden Fisher, as well as defensive back Louis Moore, all had 70 or more tackles for the Hoosiers’ defense that proved to be very good throughout the 2025 campaign. Hardy was the team leader in sacks with seven, followed by defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker with five and a half and linebacker Isaiah Jones with five.

On the back end of the defense, defensive backs Louis Moore and Amare Ferrell were ball hawks with five and four interceptions, respectively. D’Angelo Ponds didn’t have the same numbers, but he is an excellent player and helps form a very good secondary for this Hoosiers defense.

It All Comes Down To Saturday Night

Come Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, some of the final questions of the season just might be answered. It will be a battle of two of the best coaches, quarterbacks, offenses, defenses, and teams all season, and might end up being the best game of the entire season.

Both teams are 12-0, but still have a lot to prove in their own minds. Many are writing off the game, saying it doesn’t matter much for playoff seeding, but both teams want this game as badly as any they have played to date.

The Buckeyes are back in Indy for the first time since the 2020 Covid season, where they beat Northwestern 22-10 in an ugly game. The Hoosiers haven’t been to the game since the format started in 2011.

The moneyline for this one is Ohio State -205 and Indiana +170, with the spread opening at Ohio State -5.5 and now at -4.5. The over/under point total opened at 48.5 and is currently at 48.5. The expectation is for both teams to score a few times, but nothing crazy, given the two strong defenses.

Both teams have been tested, but not too much this season. It will be interesting to see who is aggressive and takes shots, given that neither team has any glaring weaknesses. The way Ohio State beat Michigan last week in all facets gives me confidence that they will be able to do enough to win this one. I think Caleb Downs or one of the BIA members will make a big play late against Mendoza that seals an Ohio State win and trophy.

Julian Sayin will have all his weapons at his disposal, and his offensive line gave him all the time in the world last week. I think he outduels Mendoza, with Jeremiah Smith having an excellent stat line, over 100 yards and a touchdown or two. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers play it close early, but the Buckeyes flex their muscles late to hoist their first Big Ten Championship trophy in five years.

Prediction: Ohio State 31 Indiana 17