Big Ten Championship Game: Ohio State vs. Northwestern live stream, odds, predictions

The Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Northwestern Wildcats in the Big Ten Championship Game as they look to punch their ticket to the playoffs.

Despite the rest of the Big Ten East Division having uncharacteristic-like seasons, the Ohio State Buckeyes still managed to go undefeated and qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game. Per conference rules, a team has to play at least six games to play in the conference title game, but given the circumstances of this season, the Buckeyes were granted an exception after falling just one game short of the required minimum amount of games played.

Ohio State has one of the best offenses in the country, which is led by quarterback Justin Fields, who is one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football. When the conference announced that they would not be playing this Fall, Fields took it upon himself to be the face of not just the Buckeyes but the entire conference as the leading advocator for the conference to overturn their decision and allow a Fall season to be played.

While some of it was the desire just to simply play the game he loves, deep down Fields and the rest of the Buckeyes’ team felt that they let last year slip away from them and were hungry to get back on the field and take care of some unfinished business from 2019.

While 2019 ended in a semi-final loss to the Clemson Tigers, the Buckeyes still had a lot to be proud of. However, for the Northwestern Wildcats, they were ready to put 2019 in the rearview mirror. After making the Big Ten title game in 2018, the Wildcats followed up one of their most successful seasons in program history with a 3-9 record that saw them win just one conference game all season long.

But as you can see, the Wildcats made 2019 look like a fluke as they regained the top spot of the West Division in 2020. The strength of the Wildcats has been their defense, which has forced 16 turnovers and held their opponents to just 14.6 points per game and less than 200 passing yards per game. Had they not fallen into a 17-0 hole to Michigan State, the Wildcats might have been playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff as well, but unfortunately suffered a loss at the hands of the Spartans.

The Big Ten went to a conference-only schedule, to no football season, back to a conference-only schedule and along the way had some wacky games, canceled games, and some rule-bending, but nonetheless, the conference has made it to its championship game. Can the Buckeyes continue their undefeated season? Or will the Northwestern defense stand their ground and give the Wildcats their first outright Big Ten title since 1995?

Here’s how to watch and bet on the Ohio State vs. Northwestern game

• Date: Saturday, Dec. 19
• Start Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
• Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
• Stadium: Lucas Oil Stadium
• TV Info: FOX
• Odds: Ohio State -20.5, O/U 57.5
• Live Stream: FOX Sports GO

Prediction: I would love to see Northwestern win the Big Ten and that would be the ultimate exclamation point on a weird 2020 season in the Big Ten Conference, but despite how good Northwestern’s defense is, Ohio State’s offense just seems too much to handle and even if they can slow the Buckeyes down, the Wildcats own offense has not been all that impressive this season. I expect the Wildcats to keep this one close in the first half, but after some adjustments, the Buckeyes are able to separate themselves from Northwestern and win this won convincingly.

Score: Ohio State 38, Northwestern 17.

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