In its first Big Ten season, top-ranked Oregon has officially clinched a spot in the championship game.

Thanks to their 16-13 win at Wisconsin on Saturday, the Ducks (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) are assured of a first or second place finish no matter what happens against rival Washington (6-5, 4-4). on Nov. 30, the Big Ten announced Tuesday. Even with a loss, Oregon claims a head-to-head tiebreaker against Ohio State and wins on all other available criteria against Penn State and Indiana.

“After an extensive review of all possible scenarios over the final two weeks of the conference’s 18-team regular season, there are no conditions that would prevent the Ducks from finishing No. 1 or No. 2,” the league said in its announcement. that Oregon’s place in Indianapolis was safe.

Initially, Big Ten officials described one situation The Athletics with the possibility that Penn State could bypass Oregon for a second spot in a multi-team tiebreaker scenario after last Saturday’s results. A scenario where Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and Penn State all finished 8-1 in Big Ten play was explained as follows: After Ohio State earned the No. 1 spot thanks to its strong schedule (its opponents have a winning percentage of 51.6) ), Penn State would get the nod because its current opponent winning percentage is slightly higher than Oregon’s (currently 43.9 to 41.5). But that outcome was misinterpreted.

After two days of research and identification of all possible outcomes, the league decided that second place in that scenario would be decided by returning to the beginning of the tiebreaker process. In the third tiebreaker of the competition for the No. 2 spot, teams are matched against the common opponent with the best conference record based on their best winning percentage. Oregon’s win over the Buckeyes would give it second place behind Penn State, which lost to Ohio State in November, and Indiana, which plays Ohio State this week.

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Below is the official set of 10 remaining scenarios released by the Big Ten in addition to Tuesday’s announcement.

Scenario 1

Oregon and Indiana finish 9-0; Penn State finishes 8-1; Ohio State finishes 7-2.

Result: Indiana and Oregon earn spots in the championship game, with the No. 1 and No. 2 designations determined after the final game of the season, based on the conference’s highest cumulative winning percentage among all conference opponents.

Scenario 2

Oregon finishes 9-0; Indiana and Penn State finished 8-1 (both lost to OSU); Ohio State finishes 7-2 (losses to ORE and MICH).

Result: Oregon deserves an outright berth as the No. 1 seed. The No. 2 seed will be determined based on the highest cumulative winning percentage among all conference opponents at the end of the season for IND and PSU.

Scenario 3

Oregon finishes 9-0; Indiana and Penn State finish 8-1 (PUR beat IND, OSU beat PSU); Ohio State finishes 7-2 (losses to ORE and IND).

Result: Oregon deserves an outright berth as the No. 1 seed. Indiana earns a spot as a No. 2 seed due to its win over its common opponent with Penn State (IND beats OSU, OSU beats PSU).

Scenario 4

Oregon finishes 9-0; Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State finish 8-1 (OSU beat IND, ORE beat OSU, OSU beat PSU).

Result: Oregon deserves an outright berth as the No. 1 seed. Ohio State earns a spot as the No. 2 seed thanks to head-to-head wins against both Indiana and Penn State.

Scenario 5

Indiana finishes 9-0; Oregon and Penn State finish 8-1 (WASH beats ORE, OSU beats PSU); Ohio State finishes 7-2 (losses to IND and ORE).

Result: Indiana deserves an outright berth as the No. 1 seed. Oregon earns a spot as a No. 2 seed due to its win over the common opponent ranked highest in the standings (OSU).

Scenario 6

Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State finish 8-1 (ORE beats OSU, WASH beats ORE, OSU beats PSU); Indiana finishes 7-2 (losses to OSU and PUR).

Result: Ohio State earns the top spot for having the highest cumulative conference winning percentage among all conference opponents. Oregon earns second place due to its victory over its common opponent with Penn State (OSU; ORE beats OSU, OSU beats PSU). Oregon would be the No. 1 seed and Ohio State would be the No. 2 seed due to head-to-head results.

Scenario 7

Indiana, Oregon and Penn State finish 8-1 (PUR beat IND, WASH beat ORE, OSU beat PSU); Ohio State finishes 7-2 (losses to ORE and IND).

Result: Indiana and Oregon earn berths for their victory over the common opponent ranked highest in the standings (OSU; IND and ORE def. OSU, OSU def. PSU). Indiana would be a No. 1 seed and Oregon would be a No. 2 seed (among the common opponents IND and ORE lost to, WASH ranked higher than PUR in the conference standings; IND def. WASH and WASH def. ORE).

Scenario 8

Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon finish 8-1 (OSU beat IND, ORE beat OSU, WASH beat ORE); Penn State finishes 7-2 (losses to OSU and MINN/MD).

Result: Ohio State earns the top spot for having the highest cumulative conference winning percentage among all conference opponents. Oregon earns second place due to its victory over its common opponent with Indiana (OSU; ORE def. OSU, OSU def. IND). Oregon would be the No. 1 seed and Ohio State would be the No. 2 seed due to head-to-head results.

Scenario 9

Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State finish 8-1 (OSU beat IND; ORE beat OSU; ORE lost to WASH; OSU beat PSU).

Result: Ohio State earns the top spot for having the highest cumulative conference winning percentage among all conference opponents. Oregon earns second place because of its victory over the common opponent ranked highest in the standings (OSU; ORE beats OSU, OSU beats PSU). Oregon would be the No. 1 seed and Ohio State would be the No. 2 seed due to head-to-head results.

Scenario 10

Oregon finishes 9-0 or 8-1; Penn State finishes 8-1 (lost to OSU); Indiana and Ohio State finished 7-2 (IND lost to OSU and PUR; OSU lost to ORE and MICH).

Result: Oregon and Penn State earn spots in the championship game. Oregon earns the No. 1 seed due to its win over the common opponent ranked highest in the conference standings (OSU; ORE def. OSU; OSU def. PSU).

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(Photo: John Fisher/Getty Images)