COLUMBUS — No. 2 Ohio State hopes to clinch one of four playoff spots Saturday when it faces No. 10 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game.
Big Ten Championship Game
(1) Ohio State (12-0, 9-0) vs. (12) Wisconsin (10-2, 7-2)
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind.
Sat., Dec. 7 (8:00 p.m./Fox)
The big question for Saturday/s game is the condition of Fields’ knee. The Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year hurt his knee in the third quarter against Michigan last week but came back in and threw a touchdown pass on the first play.
“Blew me away, looking at the shot he took, how tough he was, to come back and make a play like that, one of the coolest things I’ve been a part of,” head coach Ryan Day said during his weekly press briefing.
Both Day and Fields say Fields is fine but will wear a heavy knee brace that will limit his mobility. Day says Fields will play the entire game.
The undefeated Buckeyes are seeking their third straight conference crown and to extend their winning streak to 19 while the Badgers are trying to snap a seven-game losing streak against Ohio State.
The teams last met on Oct 26 when the Buckeyes won 38-7 in Columbus but Day acknowledged that one win in a season does not guarantee a second.
“So much is the situation, when you played them, everything like that,” he tpold reporters in his weekly briefing Tuesday. “But this is a very, very well-coached team…They’ve gotten better as the season has gone on. It’s going to be a big challenge, it’s going to be hard, go all the way to the fourth quarter.”
Wisconsin hasn’t won a league championship since 2012.