On Friday, January 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET, the No. 1 seed Indiana Hoosiers and the No. 5 seed Oregon Ducks will collide under the lights of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The winner will advance to the National Championship Game in Miami Gardens on January 19 and take on the Fiesta Bowl Champion in Ole Miss or Miami.
- The Big Ten is guaranteed to play in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game for the third straight year, with the winner of the Peach Bowl becoming the third different team to do so in as many years, joining Michigan in 2023 and Ohio State in 2024.
- Six different current Big Ten schools have earned half of the 12 available CFP semifinal spots in the last three seasons: Michigan, Washington [’24], Ohio State, Penn State [’25], Indiana, Oregon [’26].
- Oregon makes its second semifinal appearance and first since the inaugural playoff in 2014 when the Ducks defeated Florida State in the Rose Bowl. Oregon is the only remaining team that has made the semifinals multiple times.
- The Peach Bowl is an October 11th Big Ten rematch when seventh-ranked Indiana won 30-20 against third-ranked Oregon in Eugene. This will be the ninth conference rematch taking place in a bowl game in a single season and the third this season. Teams that won the regular season game are 0-7 in the bowl game – including Oklahoma (lost to Alabama in the CFP First Round) and Georgia (lost to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl).
- Indiana has a chance to make history as they can become the second Big Ten team to win 15 games in a season, joining 2023 Michigan. Meanwhile, the Ducks can become the sixth Big Ten team to win 14 games in a season, which would be their most in a single season.
- Three teams were ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense and defense this season and four teams have been in the College Football Playoff in each of the last two seasons. Indiana and Oregon have done both and are the only schools to win over 90% of their games since the start of 2024.
- Indiana’s +439-point differential this season is the fifth biggest by any FBS team this century and the biggest by any FBS team since 2020.
- The Hoosiers have allowed 60 or fewer rushing yards and 10 or fewer points in three straight games, tied for the longest such streak by any FBS team over the last 30 seasons.
- Indiana is coming off its seventh win of the season by at least 35 points, tied with the 2019 Buckeyes for the most in a single season by any Big Ten team. The last team from any conference to have that many 35+ point wins in a single season was Oregon in 2023.
- Fernando Mendoza has six games this season with at least three touchdown passes and no interceptions, tied for the second most by any Big Ten quarterback this century. The only one with more was Justin Fields, who did it nine times for Ohio State in 2019.
- Oregon’s 23-0 win over Texas Tech marked its second-ever bowl game shutout (1917 Rose Bowl against Penn). It was the largest postseason shutout for a Big Ten school since Penn State defeated Texas A&M, 24-0, in the 1999 Alamo Bowl.
- Oregon has won four straight games against teams ranked in the AP Top 5. That’s the second-longest win streak against top five teams this century by a Big Ten team (Ohio State – six straight to end this season).
- Kenyon Sadiq leads Oregon and all FBS tight ends this season with eight TD receptions. The only other five Big Ten tight ends to have that many in any of the past 10 seasons are all in the NFL – Noah Fant, Mike Gesicki, Pat Freiermuth, Tyler Warren and Payne Durham.
- At the conclusion of the 2025 regular-season, the Big Ten featured:
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- FBS football’s only two unbeaten teams
- Four of the country’s Top-15 Scoring Offenses
- Four of the nation’s Top-10 in Offensive Points Per Possession
- Five of college football’s Top-16 Scoring Defenses
- Four of the Top-10 in Defensive Points Per Possession
- Three of the Top-5 (and 8 of the Top-25) in SportSource Analytics’ ‘Strength of Record’
- Three of the Top-6 (and seven of the Top-22) in SportSource Analytics ‘Team Strength Ranking’
- Three of the Top-4 (and seven of the Top-20) in ESPN SP+ Ranking
- Six of the Top-16 Quarterback Ratings in the country
- Ten of the Top-18 least penalized teams in the country
- Six of the Top-eight most watched college football games of the 2025-26 season so far have included a Big Ten team:
- Indiana-Alabama, Rose Bowl — 23.9 million
- Ohio State-Miami, Cotton Bowl — 19.0 million
- Ole Miss-Georgia, Sugar Bowl — 18.7 million
- Ohio State-Michigan — 18.4 million
- Indiana-Ohio State, Big Ten Championship — 18.3 million
- Georgia-Alabama, SEC Championship — 16.9 million
- Texas-Ohio State — 16.6 million
Oregon-Texas Tech, Orange Bowl — 15.9 million
