Ohio State and Indiana Set a Huge Record During the Big Ten Championship
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The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Indiana Hoosiers had a historic date on Saturday night.
For the first time ever, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams were facing off in the Big Ten Championship. Beyond that, the Buckeyes were trying to complete a wire-to-wire run as the top team in the country. Head coach Ryan Day and his squad were playing the best football in America and were dominating their opponents.
On the other side of the field, the Hoosiers were trying their best to complete the greatest and quickest rise to power in the history of college football. Two seasons ago, the Hoosiers were a lost program with the worst program record out of all programs in the country.
This quickly changed once the program made the hire of Curt Cignetti, and in his second season, they were on the doorstep of being the top team in the sport.
On a weekend where one of the main arguments was that conference championship games are a waste of time (I even said it several times publicly), that was not the case in Indianapolis. Fans packed Lucas Oil Stadium, and they showed up at home as well.
The Hoosiers and the Buckeyes set the record for the biggest audience ever for any conference championship on any network at 18.33 million viewers.
History is made in the Big Ten. pic.twitter.com/ymgBFXXm8Z
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) December 9, 2025
Everyone was dialed in on the Big Ten Championship Game, and they were rewarded with an incredible matchup.
Saturday's matchup was the first time this year the Buckeyes were challenged by a team that matched their physicality from the start. Ohio State hadn't experienced this since August, and it showed during the contest.
All year long, the Buckeyes' talent was the difference. The program's incredible roster had been able to pull away from every opponent simply based on talent alone, but that wasn't the case against Indiana.
Indiana proved to have the skill to hang with the Buckeyes, and they had the guts to compete with them. A long, 88-yard touchdown drive led by Fernando Mendoza ended up being the difference for the Hoosiers. Mendoza connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass the give Indiana the lead.
Then, the Buckeyes drove it all the way down inside the 10 yard line and set up for a 27-yard field goal. Kicker Jayden Fielding hit a ball that he will forever want back as he yanked it to the left and missed the chip shot.
Ohio State never saw the football again.
This all unfolded in front of the largest crowd ever on television. The stadium environment was amazing, and the digital audience was maxed out.
This is a game that everyone will point to to argue against taking Conference Championship weekend away.
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