Indiana
Big Ten Championship game Ohio State vs Indiana prediction, keys to game
College football Power Four title picks and top Group of Five contender
Before the Snap looks at who’s poised to win the Power Four leagues and which Group of Five program could emerge as the top contender.
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.
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)
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man is dead after a shooting Thursday night on Indy’s near east side, police say.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, just after 8 p.m., officers were called to the 2000 block of East Washington Street on a report of a person shot.
When officers arrived, they found an adult male inside an apartment with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services transported the man to a hospital in critical condition, where died shortly after arriving.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene to begin the investigation.
Crime Resources
Gov. Mike Braun asked state regulators to reconsider their decision to greenlight a $71 million rate increase for AES Indiana, doubling down on his condemnation of a move that could leave Indianapolis residents with higher electrical bills for years.
Braun wrote in a June 18 news release that he had asked Indiana Utility Counselor Abby Gray, who heads the office representing ratepayers in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, to petition for a rehearing of the AES rate case.
Gray indicated in the release that her office would submit the petition shortly. No petition had been posted on the IURC’s online docket as of this story’s publication.
The rate increase, which was approved by the IURC on June 17, was substantially less than the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It was also less than the amount proposed in a settlement last October between AES and major electricity consumers.
But the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which Gray leads, came out strongly against any increase to AES’s base rates. In September, the OUCC called for a $21 million reduction instead.
As the Republican Party grapples with rising discontent over affordability, Braun has used opposition to rising utility rates to telegraph that he’s committed to keeping costs down for Indiana residents. He signed a law in February that allows the state to make rate-setting decisions that reward or penalize utilities based on metrics including affordability.
In March, he told reporters that he would take on Indiana’s five investor-owned utilities, describing himself as the “new sheriff in town.”
And after the IURC voted 3-1 to approve the AES rate increase, he wrote in a post to X that he was “deeply disappointed.”
Braun wrote in the June 18 news release that he had appointed Gray, a longtime OUCC lawyer and judge, to her current post because he knew she “would help me fight for Hoosiers.”
According to AES’s estimates, the rate increase will cost households an additional $5 per month for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity they use, beginning in July. A second hike will take effect in January.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
The Protect College Sports Act, legislation meant to introduce and codify sweeping reforms related to college athletics, passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday morning.
It now heads to the Senate floor.
The bill passed out of committee by a 19-9 vote. Indiana Republican Sen. Todd Young voted no, his decision reflecting Big Ten concerns over the bill.
A spokesman for Sen. Young told IndyStar, “Senator Young hopes that additional changes can be made to the bill to address concerns raised by the Big Ten.”
Co-sponsored by Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the Protect College Sports Act represents Congress’ most substantial success so far in a yearslong effort to bring legislative reform to college athletics. Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders in college sports — including the NCAA, member conferences and schools, and other major players — have lobbied for national solutions to what have become state and regional problems.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced across the last several years, only to fizzle long before reaching the floor of either chamber. The SCORE Act, introduced last year in the House of Representatives, gained some traction and passed out of committee, but was never brought to the floor.
Which makes Thursday’s news meaningful. Moving the Protect College Sports Act to the Senate floor, while not a guarantee of any outcome, potentially takes the bill past a threshold no other such piece of reformative legislation has yet been able to cross.
Cruz told Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Thursday that Cruz believes Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is committed to introducing the bill to the Senate floor soon.
The bill provides a legal framework for a host of potential reforms and protections for college sports. It grants limited antitrust protection to the NCAA, places limits on certain things including potential conference realignment, builds safeguards meant to protect non-revenue and Olympic sports, addresses potential broadcast rights reforms, and more.
It enjoys significant backing, and not just among leaders in college sports. This week, the NFL, its players’ association, the National Basketball Players Association and Major League Baseball all voiced their support for the bill.
Two key constituencies not in lockstep on the bill voiced their own concerns Thursday.
In a joint statement issued just after 10 a.m. Thursday, the Big Ten and SEC — far and away the two most powerful conferences and arguably two greatest power centers, full stop, in college athletics — suggested they still hold significant reservations over the bill.
“From the outset, we identified a set of essential revisions to the PCSA necessary for the long-term sustainability of college athletics,” the statement read. “We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment. We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.
“Despite our sustained engagement and good faith efforts, these critical revisions have not been accepted.”
The statement went on to note the “several Commerce Committee members that share our concerns and support these recommendations.”
Young is one of several members of the committee representing a Big Ten state, including one of three Republicans. He is the only Republican member of the committee whose state contains multiple schools in the conference.
Allowing for those reservations, Thursday’s news is still significant. It marks the first time a bipartisan bill on the subject has reached this point in the Senate and, should it be brought to the floor, it would be the first such legislation to reach that stage, in either chamber.
The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as July, though that timeline remains fluid.
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