Ohio
Indiana, Ohio State battle for Big Ten title and top seed in College Football Playoff
Conventional wisdom has top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana both earning first-round byes in the College Football Playoff regardless of what happens in Saturday night’s Big Ten Championship Game.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is not buying that for one second.
“The way you play should mean something. It will be the last thing you put on the field. I don’t expect any handouts,” Cignetti said during a Zoom call on Sunday. “We’ve earned everything up to this point and we’ve got to earn it on Saturday.”
If this had been last year, the winner would get the first-round bye and the loser likely the No. 5 seed and a first-round game since the top four ranked conference champions got the top four seeds in the first year of the 12-team field.
However, the rules were adjusted this year where the top four teams — even if they are from the same conference — receive the byes.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day is of the opposite opinion, pointing out that if a team is already seeded highly, it shouldn’t get dinged for playing this Saturday.
“You’re not supposed to be penalized for playing in the conference championship,” he said. “So yeah, both teams deserve to get a first round bye.”
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti looks on during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Purdue, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in West Lafayette, Ind. Credit: AP/Doug McSchooler
Day though also knows that a win on Saturday would lock up the top seed as Ohio State tries to become the first team since Georgia to win two straight national titles.
“I think it’s important to win this game and be the one seed. It’s going to help your chances. Everything matters,” Day said.
Both teams are 12-0 and unbeaten in nine Big Ten games.
Indiana started its preparations after a 56-3 romp of Purdue on Friday night. Ohio State snapped a four-game losing streak to Michigan with a 27-9 victory.
The Buckeyes coaching staff started watching film in Ann Arbor on Saturday night as the plane was delayed from taking off due to a snowstorm.
This will be only the third time there has been a matchup between the top two ranked teams in a conference championship game. The previous times were in the Southeastern Conference when Alabama faced Florida.
Both times the No. 2 team won the matchup. Florida beat Alabama 31-20 in 2008 and the Crimson Tide returned to get revenge the following year with a 32-13 victory.
Cignetti was an assistant at Alabama during those two matchups.
The Buckeyes are 3-2 as the top-ranked team when facing No. 2. The last time was in the 2007 BCS title game when they lost to LSU 38-24.
Indiana comes into the game with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense, averaging 44.3 points per game. Ohio State leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 7.8 points per game.
It will also be a chance for both quarterbacks to make their final case for the Heisman Trophy.
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is considered the favorite with 2,758 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Ohio State’s Julian Sayin leads the nation with a 78.9% completion rate and has thrown for 3,065 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Heisman ballots from voters are due on Dec. 8.
MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) — The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Chardon Post is investigating a fatal plane crash that killed three people around 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
According to a press release, about one mile east of the Geauga County Airport, a Piper Comanche 250 crashed into a field.
The plane sustained major damage — killing three Ohioans who were identified as Thomas A. Cunningham, 76, of Rome, John W. Taipale, 71, and Alexander C. Taipale, 40, both from Geneva.
OSHP was assisted by the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office, Geauga County Coroner’s Office, Geauga County Emergency Management Agency, Middlefield Fire Department and Community Care Ambulance.
The Western Reserve Port Authority, Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport’s executive director, Anthony Trevena, reached out to our team with a statement regarding the crash.
“We were heartbroken to learn that members of our extended YNG and Youngstown aviation family, were victims in today’s crash in Geagua County. Our deepest condolences go out the Cunningham and Taipale families. We ask that their privacy please be respected during this difficult time. The FAA and NTSB are leading the investigation to determine the cause and will provide any updates as information becomes available.,” Trevena said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were notified of the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — As concerns have grown over the impact of social media on young people, lawmakers are pushing to keep protections in tact to keep children safe online.
This week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio’s law, the Social Media Parental Notification Act, requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to use social media must be restored. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the act into law in July 2023.
Netchoice, the trade group that represents Tik Tok, Snapchat, Meta and other tech companies contested Ohio’s law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.
“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” Paul Taske, NetChoice Litigation Center Director said.
Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit’s panel does not agree with this view point, determined that the law is not unconstitutional and had the block on the law’s enforcement vacated.
“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”
The Social Media Parental Notification Act is a way to protect children’s mental health against the “intentionally addictive” nature of social media, according to U.S. senator Jon Husted.
The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson says the ruling is “a win for Ohio families.”
“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”
LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them.
“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said.
Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.
To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.”
These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.
Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.
“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.”
As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.
“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.
The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said.
Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.
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