Big Ten Announces CFB 'Champions Week' Schedule, Start Times, TV Info

The Big Ten announced its "Champions Week" schedule, with the title game between Ohio State and Northwestern highlighting the slate of games at noon ET on Dec. 19 on Fox. 

Other intriguing matchups include Minnesota vs. Wisconsin and Purdue vs. Indiana:

For a struggling Michigan team (2-4), meanwhile, the chance to knock off No. 16 Iowa (6-2) would be a nice close to an otherwise disappointing season. 

Most of the actual stakes for the slate of games comes down to Ohio State (5-0) vs. Northwestern (6-1). The Buckeyes are battling for a Big Ten title and a berth in the College Football Playoff. The Wildcats will be looking to win their first outright conference championship since 1995 (they shared the title in 1996 and 2000). 

A win would also earn Northwestern a berth in a New Year's Six bowl game. It would be an enormous upset, however.

"I'm sure we're going to be underdogs by like 70," Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald joked while speaking to reporters on Saturday.

"They're a Top Four team," he added of the Buckeyes. "If I had a vote, I'd vote them No. 2. I think they're a complete football team, all three phases."

The Buckeyes come into the game as the sources of some controversy, given that they only played five games and the Big Ten ruled before the season that six games played would be the minimum to qualify for the Big Ten title game. But had Ohio State's game against Michigan not been canceled, the Buckeyes would have qualified for the championship even if they had lost, seeing as they held the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana (6-1) in the Big Ten East.