No. 2 Michigan took care of business against No. 16 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, cruising past the Hawkeyes for a 26-0 victory and securing its third straight conference title in the process.
The Wolverines can also confidently set their sights on the top overall seed in the College Football Playoff; they are a natural successor for the No. 1 spot after Georgia lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
The trio of titles makes Jim Harbaugh the first coach in conference history to win three straight outright championships.
All three of those title game victories have come by at least 20 points.
That includes a 42-3 win against the Hawkeyes in 2021 to secure its first playoff appearance in program history.
With the loss, Iowa falls to 10-3 and misses another chance at winning the Big Ten title despite claiming three West titles since 2014 — second-most among schools in the division.
The Hawkeyes do deserve plenty of credit for battling through adversity, multiple notable injuries and what amounts to a midseason coordinator firing (though Brian Ferentz will finish out the year before moving on) to get to this point.
But Iowa really didn’t help itself Saturday night. Michigan turned an 87-yard punt return and a fumble recovery into touchdowns, another fumble recovery into a field goal and kicked two more field goals after stopping Iowa’s offense on fourth down.
The Wolverines had just one drive go over 13 plays and finished with 212 total yards of offense.
The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, crossed midfield just twice.
No. 2 Michigan took care of business against No. 16 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, cruising past the Hawkeyes for a 26-0 victory and securing its third straight conference title in the process.
The Wolverines can also confidently set their sights on the top overall seed in the College Football Playoff; they are a natural successor for the No. 1 spot after Georgia lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
The trio of titles makes Jim Harbaugh the first coach in conference history to win three straight outright championships.
All three of those title game victories have come by at least 20 points. That includes a 42-3 win against the Hawkeyes in 2021 to secure its first playoff appearance in program history.
With the loss, Iowa falls to 10-3 and misses another chance at winning the Big Ten title despite claiming three West titles since 2014 — second-most among schools in the division.
The Hawkeyes do deserve plenty of credit for battling through adversity, multiple notable injuries and what amounts to a midseason coordinator firing (though Brian Ferentz will finish out the year before moving on) to get to this point.
But Iowa really didn’t help itself Saturday night. Michigan turned an 87-yard punt return and a fumble recovery into touchdowns, another fumble recovery into a field goal and kicked two more field goals after stopping Iowa’s offense on fourth down.
The Wolverines had just one drive go over 13 plays and finished with 212 total yards of offense.
The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, crossed midfield just twice. They averaged 2.8 yards per play
- Big Ten East teams will finish a perfect 10-0 since the conference adopted its current championship game format.
The Big Ten is eliminating divisions in its championship race after this season.
- Michigan running back Blake Corum logged his 55th career rushing touchdown in the third quarter, tying Anthony Thomas for Michigan’s program record.
This is the first time that Michigan has won three-straight Big Ten titles since 1990-92.
However, the Wolverines will almost certainly be No. 1 given how the committee has favored its on-field dominance over Washington’s ranked victories all season.
U-M leads the nation in scoring margin and has put together a far more thorough resume than UW, which has been in a bevy of one-score games — despite winning all of them.
Remember: The Huskies were not even in the four-team field for the first few weeks of the CFP Rankings.
Michigan should get the No. 1 seed and play in the Sugar Bowl.
