Big Ten Football Championship Game The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game that is held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference ' s season champion . The inaugural game was played on December 3 , 2011 . The games during the next two seasons will be held on December 1 , 2012 , and December 7 , 2013 . The championship game will pit the division champions from the conference ' s Legends and Leaders divisions in a game held after the regular season has been completed . The winner of this game will earn the Big Ten ' s automatic berth in the Rose Bowl Game , unless the team finishes in the top two of the final Bowl Championship Series standings . If this is the case , the team will compete in the BCS National Championship Game . The winner of this game will also receive the Stagg Championship Trophy ( formerly the Stagg - Paterno Championship Trophy ) , and the most valuable player of this game will receive the Grange - Griffin Championship Game Most Valuable Player Trophy . On June 6 , 2011 , the conference announced that Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will host the title game beginning in 2011 , going through 2015 . As of 2012 , both Big Ten Championship games were won by the Wisconsin Badgers . History . Prior to the 2011 college football season , the Big Ten Conference determined its champion through regular season play , and , as there were only 11 member schools , there was no possibility for a conference championship game because the NCAA requires ( for holding a conference championship game ) that the conference have 12 teams with two divisions . In 2010 , the Big Ten Conference added the University of Nebraska , bringing the membership total to 12 teams . Thus , the conference was able to meet NCAA requirements . On August 5 , 2010 Big Ten Conference Commissioner James Delany announced Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis had been chosen as the possible site for the inaugural championship game . The league office began a 30 - day period to negotiate a one - year agreement with Indiana Sports Corp and Lucas Oil Stadium to host the game . Delany also announced that once the 2011 agreement was in place , the conference office would conduct a thorough process over the next year to determine the location of the Big Ten Football Championship Game in 2012 and beyond . On November 17 , 2010 , the Big Ten Conference announced a media agreement with FOX Sports to serve as the official broadcast partner for the 2011 - 16 Big Ten Football Championship Games . A source at the time stated that the six - year agreement with FOX Sports would be worth between $ 20 – $ 25 million per season , making it one of the most valuable conference championship games in college football . In the league ' s press release , it was confirmed that the 2011 event will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis , Indiana . The events will be played in prime time . Because FOX is a majority partner in the Big Ten Network , this may allow for the possibility of more involvement by the Big Ten Network in the event , including the use of Big Ten Network staff in the game coverage . Commissioner Delany also stated at that time that the Big Ten would strongly consider rotating the site of the game , mentioning other possible host cities such as Chicago , Detroit , Minneapolis , Green Bay , and Cleveland . Conference expansion . The Big Ten expanded to 11 schools by adding Penn State in 1990 , but this did not yet meet the NCAA ' s requirements for holding a conference championship game ( that the conference have 12 teams with two divisions ) . A few other times during that period , there were talks between the Big Ten and other schools ( namely , Kansas , Missouri , and Rutgers , and later Notre Dame ) which might have led to the possibility of a conference with two divisions of at least six teams and a conference championship , but for various reasons , nothing came to fruition . It wasn ' t until December 2009 , when Commissioner Delany announced that the league would explore the possibility of adding one or more teams , that the wheels were set in motion that would lead to the Big Ten adding a school for the first time in 20 years . Less than a year later , on June 11 , 2010 , Nebraska applied for membership and was unanimously accepted by the conference ' s 11 member schools . Its membership became effective on July 1 , 2011 . Team selection . After the addition of Nebraska to the conference , there was much debate over what would be the best division of the 12 schools . Some felt that it would be best to maintain geographical divisions . Others felt that geography should only be a factor insofar as there was competitive balance between the two divisions . Another very important factor for Big Ten schools was the maintenance of long - standing rivalries that the schools held with each other . On September 1 , 2010 , Commissioner Delany revealed the two divisions . They were provisionally called X and O . Later , on December 13 , 2010 , Commissioner Delany announced that the two divisions would be called Legends and Leaders . The scheduling arrangement for the schools was that they would face each of the other schools in their division , plus three crossover opponents , one of which would be permanent . On August 4 , 2011 , the Big Ten Conference announced that there would be a nine - game conference schedule beginning in 2017 , allowing schools to play four crossover opponents . However , the Big Ten and Pac - 12 later announced a multi - sport scheduling agreement that provides for each member school to play one non - conference football game per year against an opponent from the other conference , and with this announcement , the Big Ten backed away from the nine - game conference schedule proposal . Results . ( * ) - Wisconsin , despite finishing third in the Leaders division , qualified by virtue of the postseason bans to division champion Ohio State and second place Penn State . ( * * ) - Rankings indicate BCS rank at the time of the Big Ten Championship Game . Selection criteria . On September 1 , 2011 , the Big Ten Conference announced the divisional tiebreaker procedures that will be used to determine the representatives in the championship game . Division standings are based on each team ' s overall conference record . Teams that are ineligible to play in a postseason bowl game will not be allowed to participate in the Big Ten Football Championship Game . In the event that two teams are tied , the head - to - head results between those two teams determines the tiebreaker . Three or more - team tiebreaker procedure . If only two teams remain after any of the following steps , the tiebreaker will revert to the two - team tiebreaker above . Procedure in the case of ineligible division champions . If one or both of the division champions are ineligible to play in the championship game , the following procedure will be followed : Procedure in the case of no championship game . If the championship game cannot be played for reasons beyond the control of the Big Ten Conference , the two division champions ( using the previously stated divisional tie - breakers ) will be declared co - champions and the following procedure will determine the Big Ten Conference representative to the Bowl Championship Series :