Big Ten Conference Divisional/Championship Tie-Breakers (2021)

The Big Ten divisional tiebreakers rules in a nutshell:

• Remember that initially, when determining division champion, all B1G games count the same.  This means that in determining the champion of the West division, a loss to a B1G team in the East counts the same as a loss to a team in the West.  Again, that’s until you get down into the tie-breakers.  So that said..
• If 2 or more teams are tied in a division, it comes down to head-to-head.  This is simple for 2 teams and will break any two-team tie because each team faces every team in the division.   If 3 (or more) teams are tied and one of those teams has defeated the others – that team would win the division.
• If 3 (or more) teams are tied, and a subset of those teams has a superior head-to-head record against the other(s), the teams with the superior record will advance in the tie-breaker.  The rules then start at the top again – comparing the head-to-head of those teams and so on.
• From there it gets squirrely and the tiebreaker focuses on the division records (only), and even the combined record of non-division conference opponents.
• The overall record doesn’t come into play until step 7 – it will likely never get past step 5 (comparing records of non-division opponents) in my opinion.

Via bigten.org

The Big Ten football championship will be decided by a game played between the two division champions. A team or teams that are not eligible to participate in a postseason football bowl game as a result of NCAA and/or Big Ten sanctions shall not be eligible to participate in the Big Ten Football Championship Game. The winner of the Big Ten Football Championship Game will represent the conference in one of the bowls that comprise the College Football Playoff – the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, or Sugar Bowl. If the Big Ten Champion is ranked No. 1, 2, 3, or 4 in the final College Football Playoff poll, the team will play in a semifinal game. Otherwise, the Big Ten Champion will play in the Rose Bowl Game (when not hosting a semifinal) or the Cotton, Fiesta, or Peach Bowl.

The following procedure will determine the representative from each division in the event of a tie:

If two teams are tied, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.
If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 8 will be followed until a determination is made. If only two teams remain tied after any step (or sub-step), the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative. If three or more teams remain tied after any step, move to the next step in a tiebreaker with the remaining tied teams.

1. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage in games between the tied teams.
   (a) Example: East 1 is 2-0 in games between the tied teams with wins over East 2 and 3 – East 1 would be the representative.
2. The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on the winning percentage within their division.
3. The records of the three (or more) teams will be compared against the next highest-placed teams in their division in order of finish (4, 5, 6, and 7).
   (a) When arriving at a group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group, rather than record against the individual teams.
4. The records of the three (or more) teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents.
5. The records of the three (or more) teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference-winning percentage of non-divisional opponents.
   (a) Example: East 1 non-divisional opponents are 20-7, East 2 non-divisional opponents are 19-8, East 3 non-divisional opponents are 14-13 – East 1 would be the representative.
6. The records of the three (or more) teams will be compared against the highest placed non-divisional teams in their division order of finish (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7).
   (a) When arriving at a group of tied teams while comparing records, use each team’s record against the collective tied teams as a group, rather than record against the individual teams.
   (b) When comparing records against a single team or a group of teams, the record will prevail, even if the number of games played against the team or group are unequal (i.e. 1-0 is better than 0-0, 2-0 is better than 1-0, etc.)
7. The team with the best overall winning percentage [excluding exempted games] shall be the representative.
8. The representative will be chosen by random draw.