Idle Northwestern clinches BigTenWest, will play in conference championship game

But Northwestern's championship game foe is still undetermined

Despite not playing Saturday, No. 14 Northwestern clinched the Big TenWest Division title for a berth in the conference championship game.

This is the second time in three seasons theWildcats (5-1) havewon the division title; they lost to Ohio State 45-24inthe 2018 BigTen final.

The 2020 title game is scheduled for Dec. 19 in Indianapolis.

Northwestern qualified without competing because of Big Ten rules forhowmany gamesmust be played to be eligible. Only three games needed to be playedSaturday for the Wildcats to clinch and eliminateNo. 16Wisconsin from contention.

TheBadgers laterSaturday lost to No. 12 Indiana 14-6.

The Wildcats’ game Saturday against Minnesota was canceled because of COVID-19 cases within the Gophers program that forced a pause in team activities.

Northwestern will finish its regular season at home against Illinois on Dec. 12, looking for its sixth straight victory in the series. According to Stadium, Big Ten athletic directors are likely to push for rule changes to allow No. 4 Ohio State (5-0) to qualify for the title game as the East Division champion even if it can’t play a sixthconferencegame. If theBuckeyeswinthe BigTentitle, it likely would guarantee them a College Football Playoff spot.

The Big Ten rules require six games played to qualify for the championship. The Buckeyes had games canceled at Maryland on Nov. 14 because of positive cases in the Terrapins program and at Illinois on Nov. 28 with positive cases in their own program.

Ohio State beat Michigan State 52-12 on Saturday. TheBuckeyes are scheduled to play their season finale againstMichigan on Dec. 12, but the game is in jeopardy because of an outbreak within the Wolverines program.

Northwestern won its first five games, highlighted by a 17-7 victory against then-No. 10 Wisconsin on Nov. 21. The Wildcats lost 29-20 at Michigan State onNov. 28.