The 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game. It was played on December 1, 2012, at

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the National Football League (NFL)'s Indianapolis Colts and opened on August 16, 2008. The stadium was ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, to determine the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

champion of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. It was played between the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

of the Leaders Division and the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

of the Legends Division. Wisconsin defeated Nebraska, 70–31. The game was the second football championship game ever played in the Big Ten's 116-year history; the Big Ten expanded to twelve teams the year before thus becoming eligible under NCAA rules which, at that time, required conferences to have a membership of at least 12 to have a conference championship game. The game was played in

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

and televised by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, with kickoff scheduled for 8:17 PM Eastern Time. In only the second year of the Big Ten Championship game, one team entered the game unranked in the BCS standings, AP poll, and Coaches' poll. In 2014, both Nebraska and Wisconsin were placed in the new Big Ten West division for football, and thus it will no longer be possible for them to meet in the conference championship game without conference re-alignment.

Teams

Wisconsin

Wisconsin finished third place in the Leaders division, but division champion

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and second-place

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

were ineligible to play in the championship game because of postseason bans. Teams that play in the conference championship game must be eligible for the postseason. The 2012 Big Ten football championship game would be the last time Bret Bielema coached the Badgers. He departed Wisconsin three days after the Big Ten championship game to accept the head coaching position at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Wisconsin's Athletic Director, and former football head coach,

Barry Alvarez Barry Lee Alvarez (born December 30, 1946) is a former American football coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons, from 1990 to 2005, compiling a caree ...

went on to coach the Badgers at the

2013 Rose Bowl The 2013 Rose Bowl, the 99th edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game played on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at the same-named stadium in Pasadena, California. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association is the organizer of the ...

against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Nebraska

Scoring Summary

;1st Quarter *WIS –

Melvin Gordon Melvin Gordon III (born April 13, 1993) is an American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the first roun ...

56 Yd Run for Td (Kyle French Kick) (13:01) (7–0 WIS) *WIS –

Marcus Cromartie Marcus A. Cromartie (born December 3, 1990) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at Wisconsin, and signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2013. Early years Ranked as the 43rd best defensi ...

29 Yd Interception Return for TD (Kyle French Kick) (12:53) (14–0 WIS) *NEB –

Taylor Martinez Taylor Todd Martinez (born September 15, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Nebraska. High school career Martinez played his senior year of high school football at Centennial High School in Corona, ...

76 Yd Run for Td ( Brett Maher Kick) (10:58) (14–7 WIS) *NEB – Brett Maher 32 Yd Fg (04:46) (14–10 WIS) *WIS – James White 9 Yd Run for Td (Kyle French Kick) (01:01) (21–10 WIS) ;2nd Quarter *WIS – James White 1 Yd Run for Td (Kyle French Kick) (11:11) (28–10 WIS) *WIS –

Montee Ball Montee Ball Jr. (born December 5, 1990) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wisconsin, where he was twice recognized as the be ...

16 Yd Run for Td (Kyle French Kick) (07:15) (35–10 WIS) *WIS – Sam Arneson 3 Yd Pass From James White for Td (Kyle French Kick) (00:02) (42–10 WIS) ;3rd Quarter *WIS – Montee Ball 9 Yd Run for Td (Jack Russell Kick) (14:13) (49–10 WIS) *NEB – Taylor Martinez 11 Yd Run for Td (Brett Maher Kick) (10:47) (49–17 WIS) *WIS – Montee Ball 57 Yd Run for Td (Jack Russell Kick) (09:27) (56–17 WIS) *WIS – James White 68 Yd Run for Td (Jack Russell Kick) (06:42) (63–17 WIS) ;4th Quarter *NEB – Braylon Heard 9 Yd Run for Td (Brett Maher Kick) (12:14) (63–24 WIS) *WIS – James White 10 Yd Run for Td (Jack Russell Kick) (08:57) (70–24 WIS) *NEB – Imani Cross 26 Yd Run for Td (Brett Maher Kick) (00:51) (70–31 WIS)

Statistics

''Sources:''

Records

took over as the record holder for Football Bowl Subdivision "career rushing touchdowns record" from

Travis Prentice Travis Jason Prentice (born October 27, 1976) is a former American football running back who played collegiately at Miami of Ohio. Prentice held the NCAA Division I-A record for career rushing touchdowns until it was broken by Wisconsin's Monte ...

with 76 touchdowns (Ball scored one touchdown in the 2013 Rose Bowl thus extending the record). Wisconsin set multiple school records in the game; first by scoring eight rushing touchdowns during the game. The second school record for Wisconsin was having two 200-yard rushers in one game. Nebraska set a record for the most rushing touchdowns allowed in a game. Wisconsin's redshirt freshman running back

ran for a career-high of 216 yards on just nine possessions, averaging 24 yards per carry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Big Ten Football Championship Game Nebraska Cornhuskers football games Wisconsin Badgers football games

Big Ten Football Championship Game The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference's season champion. The game, held after the regular season has been completed, matches the division champions ...

2010s in Indianapolis