Big Ten reverses course: Oregon football has clinched a spot in Big Ten championship game after all

EUGENE — It was the clinch that appeared to be, then wasn’t, then was again.

In a reversal, the Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday that Oregon football (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) has in fact earned a spot in the conference’s championship game. According to multiple sources with knowledge of the discussion, Big Ten athletic directors met virtually Tuesday to discuss the conference’s tiebreakers, and whether Oregon had clinched.

While the conference previously claimed the Ducks needed Ohio State and Penn State to lose this coming weekend in order to secure their spot this week, it may have misinterpreted its own tiebreaking procedures. Oregon appears to have clinched a spot with Saturday’s win at Wisconsin.

“Following a comprehensive evaluation of all possible scenarios over the final two weeks of regular-season play across the conference’s 18 teams, there are no conditions whereby the Ducks do not finish No. 1 or No. 2,” the Big Ten said in a release.

The conference did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Prior to Saturday’s game against the Badgers, the conference told The Oregonian/OregonLive and officials from the Oregon athletic department that even a victory would not secure the Ducks a spot in the Dec. 7 game in Indianapolis. That was the operating assumption as recently as Monday, when The Oregonian/OregonLive reported a follow-up story based on the conference’s interpretation of its tiebreaking procedures.

The Oregonian’s original interpretation of the tiebreaker rules was that Oregon needed only to beat Wisconsin to clinch. That appears to have been true.

While the Ducks’ trip to Indianapolis is finally locked in, their opponent remains a mystery. Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State all still have a path to meet the Ducks at Lucas Oil Stadium.

— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.