Big Ten Announces Tiebreaker Rule Changes for CFB Title Game After Realignment

The Big Ten laid out its new tiebreaker guidelines after expanding to 18 teams and ditching divisions starting with the 2024 college football season.

Head-to-head matchups will be the first and most straightforward way to determine a representative for the championship game if two teams have the same conference record. Things branch off from there and culminate in a random draw if a differentiator can't be found.

There was a time when splitting the Big Ten into two divisions caused a bit of an uproar. Officials had to grapple with balancing the depth between the two equally while trying to preserve longtime rivalries.

The newest round of expansion presented officials with a fresh set of challenges. Beyond maintaining existing traditions, there are the logistical concerns of having schools spread across both coasts.

Last fall, the Big Ten announced its Flex Protect XVIII model to cover the conference schedules across the 2024-28 seasons.

There are 12 "protected matchups" that are in effect annual rivalries such as Michigan vs. Ohio State, Michigan State vs. Michigan and UCLA vs. USC. Those games aside, every school is guaranteed to cross paths twice (home and away) over the next five years.

Here's the entire Big Ten slate for 2024. From the moment it was revealed, fans were left to argue over who had the easiest and most difficult paths to Indianapolis on Dec. 7.

Week 7 might be the one to circle on the calendar. On Oct. 12, Oregon hosts Ohio State and USC welcomes Penn State. Iowa vs. Washington could have ramifications on the title game as well if the conference's best teams wind up trading blows and taking themselves out of the race.