The 2021 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 played on December 4, 2021, 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 ...

. It was the 11th edition of the

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 ...

and determined the 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 ...

for the 2021 season. The game began at 8:19 p.m. EST and aired on

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 ...

. The game featured the 2

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

, the East Division champions, and the 13

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

, the West Division champions. Sponsored by credit card company

Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * D ...

, the game was officially known as the Big Ten Championship Game presented by Discover.

Teams

The 2021 Big Ten Championship Game featured the

, champions of the East Division, and the

, champions of the West Division. This was the teams' 62nd all-time meeting, with Michigan entering the game leading the series 42–15–4. The teams first met in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

and have met frequently since the early 1950s as

opponents. They last met in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, a game which resulted in a 10–3 Michigan win. Further, this was the first time that Michigan and Iowa met in the postseason. In its eleventh year of existence, this year marked Michigan's first-ever appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game. Iowa made its second appearance after debuting in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

in a loss to the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

. Michigan entered the game seeking its 43rd all-time conference championship, while Iowa entered seeking its 12th; each team's last title came in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, when the Wolverines and Hawkeyes shared the conference crown. This game also marked the first time since

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

that the East Division was not represented by

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 ...

Michigan Wolverines

Seventh-year head coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

and the Michigan Wolverines began their 2021 season with a series of four straight home games at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

. The first, against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pen ...

, saw the Wolverines "dominate" as they defeated the Broncos by nearly five touchdowns, before defeating

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in a game that drew considerably less hype after the Huskies' upset loss to

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

the week prior. The Wolverines earned a spot at No. 25 in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

entering their third game, a matchup with

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...

, which they won handily. Michigan then claimed a close decision against

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

, improving the Wolverines to 4–0 and placing them into the top 15. Entering October, the Wolverines faced their first road conference games; they first faced

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, whom they defeated by three touchdowns, and then took down

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, though only by three points, thanks to a

Jake Moody Jake Moody (born ) is an American football placekicker for the Michigan Wolverines. He won the 2021 Lou Groza Award and was the consensus first-team placekicker on the 2021 college football All-America team. Early years Moody attended Northvill ...

field goal with under two minutes remaining. This set up the Wolverines for one of the most anticipated matchups of the season so far, a

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

faceoff between No. 6 Michigan and No. 8

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, marking the first time since

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

that the teams had met while each in the top ten. After a back-and-forth game, the Spartans prevailed with a four-point win, handing Michigan their first loss of the season. The Wolverines were able to bounce back, as they began November with a win over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and followed it up with a road win in State College against the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

. In their season's final road game, Michigan routed

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, winning by 41 points. This win put the Wolverines at the No. 5 spot in the College Football Playoff poll entering their home finale against archrivals No. 2

. For the first time ever under Harbaugh, and the first time since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, the Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes and, with the victory, clinched its spot in the championship game with a 8–1 conference record and a head-to-head tiebreaker against Ohio State. As a result of the win, Michigan rose to No. 2 in the College Football Playoff poll entering the Big Ten Championship, behind only No. 1

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. On December 2, Michigan announced that it would wear a special jersey patch to honor the victims of the

Oxford High School shooting On November 30, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at Oxford High School in the Detroit exurb of Oxford Township, Michigan, United States. 15-year old Ethan Crumbley, armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun, murdered four students and injured se ...

that had taken place in

Oxford Township, Michigan Oxford Township, officially the Charter Township of Oxford, is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,526 at the 2010 census. Communities *The village of Oxford is located within the township. L ...

on November 30, 2021.

Iowa Hawkeyes

With 23rd-year head coach

Kirk Ferentz Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the current head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the ...

at the helm, the Iowa Hawkeyes got their season off to a quick start with two ranked opponents in their first two games. Their season opener saw No. 18 Iowa defeat No. 17

by four touchdowns, which put them into the top ten in time for their second game, at No. 9 Iowa State. After capturing the lead in the second quarter, Iowa did not relinquish it, and upset the Cyclones by ten points. This win vaulted Iowa to No. 5 in the AP Poll, where they remained through their next two home non-conference victories against Kent State and Colorado State. The Hawkeyes returned to conference play with a road tilt against Maryland, whom they defeated handily. Now 5–0 and ranked No. 3, Iowa returned home to play host to No. 4 Penn State; the Hawkeyes trailed by double-digits in the first quarter but recovered to win the game 23–20, which put them at No. 2 in the polls. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, their bid for an undefeated season would come to an end the following week, as they were upset by

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

at home. Iowa would go on to drop their next game as well, a road matchup with Wisconsin, having been outscored 14–51 in their back-to-back losses. These setbacks dropped Iowa to No. 22 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but the Hawkeyes bounced back effectively with a road win at Northwestern and home wins against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Going into the final weekend of the regular season,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, Minnesota, and Wisconsin remained in contention for a spot in the championship game. The Hawkeyes defeated

on November 26, thereby eliminating Minnesota from contention for the championship game. On November 27, Minnesota defeated Wisconsin, giving Iowa the outright division championship and a place in the title game.

Game summary

Statistics

Team statistics

Individual statistics

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2021 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 Iowa Hawkeyes football games Michigan Wolverines football games

Big Ten Football Champ 2020s in Indianapolis