Penn State has made two appearances in the Big Ten championship game, which was introduced to the conference in 2011 following the expansion of the conference membership to 12 teams with the addition of Nebraska. Penn State won the conference championship game against Wisconsin in 2016 and fell to Oregon in last year's game.

No. 1 Ohio State (No. 1 in CFP rankings) has a clear path to the Big Ten Championship game, but could be at risk if history repeats itself. Sitting at 9-0, Ohio State has games against Big Ten opponents UCLA and Rutgers before playing heated rival Michigan.

Darin Smith Jr. scored 21 points, Max Frazier powered his way to a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double, and Central Connecticut controlled the second half to hand