Big Ten record in CFP games (semifinals and finals)

Monday night marks the end of an era. After the national championship game ends between No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Washington, the four-team College Football Playoff model will be no more. For 10 years, only four teams were allowed to play in essentially the ESPN Invitational each January. With expansion coming in earnest next season, all four Power Four leagues should have teams playing in it.

While the last decade has been dominated by SEC powers and Clemson out of the ACC, the Big Ten has had the next best luck in the College Football Playoff over the other two Power Five conferences. To date, neither a Big 12 team or a Pac-12 team has ever won the playoff before. While eight of the nine champions to date have either been in the SEC (six) or Clemson (two), the Big Ten does have one.

So with expansion happening next year and teams like Washington switching conferences, let's briefly take a look at how the Big Ten has fared in the current iteration of the College Football Playoff. How many teams have made the four-team field before? How many times has each team made it in? How many games has each team won? Have any of them won national championship games before?

Hold onto your horses, fellas! It is about to be a bumpy ride! Behold: The Big Ten's playoff history!

Big Ten College Football Playoff history: Wins, losses, appearances

To date, only three Big Ten programs have ever sent a team to the playoff. Those would be Ohio State, who has made it in five times, Michigan, who has made it in each of the last three seasons, and Michigan State, who made it in once way back in 2015. Here are their all-time marks in the playoff.

• Ohio State Buckeyes: 3-4 (Wins: 2014 Sugar Bowl, 2014 National Championship, 2020 Sugar Bowl. Losses: 2016 Fiesta Bowl, 2019 Fiesta Bowl, 2020 National Championship, 2022 Peach Bowl)
• Michigan State Spartans: 0-1 (Loss: 2015 Cotton Bowl)
• Michigan Wolverines: 1-2 (Win: 2023 Rose Bowl. Losses: 2021 Orange Bowl, 2022 Fiesta Bowl)

Overall, Ohio State has made it in the most (five), won the most games (three), won the most national titles (one) and suffered the most losses (four). Michigan State just has that one blowout loss to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. Michigan is the only Big Ten program to win the Rose Bowl when it was part of the playoff. If you combine all three teams' records, the Big Ten has gone 4-7 over 11 games.

The two national semifinals that Ohio State won were in the Sugar Bowl. Michigan's lone national semifinal victory to date came last week in the Rose Bowl. To date, a Big Ten team has never won the Cotton Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl or the Peach Bowl when it has been part of the playoff, having gone a combined 0-6 in those four New Year's Six Bowls when it is their year to be semifinals.

If we want to really have some fun, follow me along with this. To date, the Big Ten's four combined playoff wins have come in years when the Rose and Sugar Bowls are the national semifinals. The Big Ten has gone 4-1 in those seasons (2014, 2017, 2020, 2023). Outside of 2017 and 2018, the Big Ten has gotten a team into the College Football Playoff every year, including a pair just last postseason.

The other big note here is the only time the Big Ten won a national title, it came over a Pac-12 team.