• Big Ten Championship: Ohio State (12-0) vs. Indiana (12-0), 8 p.m., Saturday; TV: Fox

It’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Big Ten Championship game. It’s familiar territory for top-ranked Ohio State. But this is new ground for the “home” team as No. 2 Indiana looks to make history Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The winner is the College Football Playoff’s top seed and the loser should still finish in the top four, especially if the game is competitive. (And especially if the loser is Ohio State.) Think of this matchup as a barometer for both teams heading into the postseason.

Saturday’s title game could also help decide the Heisman Trophy as Buckeyes QB Julian Sayin and Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza are both among the favorites heading into the final weekend before Heisman votes cast their ballots.

Big Ten Championship: Ohio State may be Goliath, but Indiana is no David, ‘a different team’

More: OSU shifted focus to Big Ten title game ‘minute’ after Michigan win

Here’s what you need to know about the game and who we think will win:

Big Ten Championship game: Ohio State vs Indiana

• Records: Ohio State (12-0), Indiana (12-0)
• Time/TV: Saturday, 8 p.m., FOX
• Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

Big Ten Championship game predictions

• Ohio State 27, Indiana 17: Curt Cignetti’s offense feasts on most Big Ten defenses. This is not your ordinary Big Ten defense, though. The Buckeyes keep winning with an anaconda defense that suffocates opponents. Pair that with steady-handed quarterback Julian Sayin and the best receiving corps in the country, and you get the nation’s most complete team. I’ve been on the Buckeyes to win the national championship since August. I’m not fading them now. — Blake Toppmeyer
• Indiana 27, Ohio State 24: I just can’t get over what the Ohio State defense has faced, instead of what it has done. Who have the Buckeyes played this season that could actually stress their defense? Texas? In Arch Manning’s first start? Washington? Illinois? Come on. The Hoosiers will be a completely different animal, a multiple offense with an accurate quarterback who can make every throw — and scramble and get critical yards. One more thing: Hoosiers have 34 sacks and have forced 24 turnovers. The defense will get enough stops, and Indiana will be the No.1 seed in the CFP. — Matt Hayes
• Ohio State 34, Indiana 16: Ohio State’s historically good defense is going to be tested by Indiana and possible Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. This is a group with no weak links, nearly unmatched depth and all-everything talent such as safety Caleb Downs, who might be the best pound-for-pound player in college football. The Buckeyes are on a collision course for a repeat national title and won’t be tripped up even by the mighty Hoosiers. — Paul Myerberg

Big Ten Championship game betting odds

Odds via BetMGM, as of Dec. 5.

• Spread: Ohio State (-4)
• Over/under: 47.5
• Moneyline: Ohio State (-200)

LAKE STATION, Ind. – Indiana State Police announced that charges have been dropped in the heat-exhaustion deaths of eight dogs discovered in a box truck last summer.

What we know:

A verdict was reached Thursday in the case involving the July 27, 2023, incident in Lake Station, Indiana, according to ISP.

Police said the box truck, allegedly unventilated, was transporting the dogs from O’Hare International Airport to a K-9 training facility in Michigan.

 “The Indiana State Police respects the role of the judiciary and the legal process; however, we are disappointed in the court’s recent decision to dismiss the charges in this case. Our detectives dedicated significant time and effort into this investigation, following the evidence, to present a thorough and accurate case for prosecution. We believe the charges filed by the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office appropriately reflected the seriousness of the alleged conduct. The Indiana State Police will continue to work tirelessly to investigate crimes, support victims, and bring forward cases based on facts and evidence, regardless of the ultimate legal outcome,” ISP said in a statement. 

According to state police, multiple animal-cruelty charges had been filed against the two suspects, Michael McHendry and Jessie Urbinski.

The truck driver, who was representing a Michigan dog-training company reportedly known as FMK9, was allegedly allowed by Lake Station police to refuse help from Hobart Humane Society workers. Responders said they arrived quickly and attempted to provide first aid to the dogs.

PETA also issued a statement condemning the court’s decision.

“No amount of deference to the police and its contractors can undo the prolonged suffering these dogs endured, baking to death and desperate to escape cages as their organs shut down in the suffocating heat of an unventilated truck. But the system’s utter failure to hold the dogs’ “owner” accountable in some small way for the hell he put them through serves as another example of why the time is now for law-enforcement agencies to phase out the use of K9s,” PETA said. 

No additional details on the case or the court’s ruling have been released.

Indiana prosecutor requests investigation into heat exhaustion deaths of 8 dogs in box truck

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has been here before. Twice.

His second-ranked Hoosiers, just like first-ranked Ohio State, have not.

For the first time in more than a decade and just the third time since conference championship games were standardized, the nation’s top-ranked teams will play for a title.

The two previous top-ranked conference title games were in the Southeastern Conference in 2008-09 when Florida and Alabama went back to back.

Cignetti was on Nick Saban’s Alabama coaching staff. And, yes, experience could matter.

“A year late,” Cignetti joked after Indiana punched its ticket by routing Purdue. “I had the opportunity to be part of a couple of those at Alabama when we played Florida and (Tim) Tebow and Urban (Meyer) two years in a row. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. I think — no I know — you’re playing this game for a reason. A Big Ten championship means an awful lot.”

The Buckeyes (12-0) and Hoosiers (12-0) are in similar positions. The are playoff locks, with good chances at a first-round bye no matter what happens in Indianapolis on Saturday.

But the contrast between these programs couldn’t be starker.

Ohio State owns eight national championships, is closing in on program win No. 1,000 and has claimed at least three Big Ten crowns in every decade from the 1930s through 2010s.

Despite the steady parade of players from Columbus to the NFL, the Buckeyes watched the last four Big Ten title games from home — a drought that coincided with their four-game losing streak to dreaded Michigan. That streak ended last week and this week the defending national champs hope to fulfill another preseason goal by hoisting their first Big Ten trophy in five years.

“We’re excited we put ourselves in a position to have a chance to play for the Big Ten championship,” All-American Caleb Downs said. “We’re going to go at it with a lot of energy and put everything into it this week and then go play as well as we can Saturday.”

As a program, the Hoosiers are relative newcomers to the big stage.

They finally shed the label of the FBS’ losingest program last month, then completed the first perfect regular season in school history and are now seeking their third Big Ten title. The first came in 1945, the last in 1967, leaving Indiana tied with Minnesota for the conference’s longest active title drought.

The Hoosiers have an experienced roster with key players who have played for championships in previous stops and, oh yeah, Cignetti. They also can rely on the lessons learned from their only losses last season — at Ohio State and at national runner-up Notre Dame.

“We fell short in the moment,” first team all-conference linebacker Aiden Fisher said, reflecting on those defeats. “Coach Cignetti said it kind of got a little too big for us, and I think we went in with too much of an underdog mentality. This year, every single game we’ve been in there’s been no doubt at all. It’s never crept in that, ‘Oh, we might lose this game.’”

There’s no reason to change that philosophy now in a contest that features the nation’s two stingiest scoring defenses, two of the nation’s top-15 scoring offenses, the nation’s two most efficient quarterbacks and major college football’s last two unbeaten teams.

“I don’t expect any handouts,” Cignetti said. “We’ve earned everything up to this point, and we’ve got to earn it on Saturday.”

Heisman battle

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin are going head to head as top Heisman Trophy contenders. Some believe this game could determine the trophy’s winner. Though nobody wants to talk about the race, there is some mutual admiration between the two.

“Julian Sayin and I never officially met, however, through high school we used a similar quarterback coach,” Mendoza said. “And this year we had a lot of overlap games, and we were able to watch their film. I really respect Julian, he is effective and he fits the offense perfectly.”

On the move

Buckeyes offensive coordinator coach Brian Hartline accepted his first head coaching job, at South Florida, on Wednesday. But unlike other coaches, Hartline isn’t going anywhere yet. Coach Ryan Day said Wednesday that Hartline would stay with his alma mater through the playoffs.

“The timing isn’t great, but that’s not Brian’s fault. Instead of being upset about it, we’re going to embrace it,” Day said. “I’m really happy for he and his family. He’s put in a lot of hard work here.”

Red banner day

The football game serves as the nightcap of a rare, red-themed tripleheader in Indiana.

In addition to the scarlet-clad Buckeyes and crimson-colored Hoosiers, there are two Top 25 men’s basketball games, too. At noon, No. 1 Purdue hosts No. 10 Iowa State, whose colors include cardinal red, and at 2 p.m. No. 22 Indiana plays another red-colored team, No. 6 Louisville just a few blocks away from Lucas Oil.