Breaking down the Big Ten's divisional tiebreaking procedures

On July 28, 2011, Big Ten officials revised and activated its tie-breaking procedure for the inaugural championship game this December. Here is how it breaks down:

• If two teams are tied atop a division with the same conference record, head-to-head is the only tiebreaker.

If three or more teams are tied, there is a seven-step tie-breaking process. Here is how the division champion and title game representative will be determined:

• 1. The schools' records against one another
• 2. The schools' records from division-only games
• 3. The schools' records against the the next highest-placed teams in the division in order of finish (4-5-6)
• 4. The records of the three teams compared against common conference opponents
• 5. The highest ranked team in the BCS standings following the end of regular-season play unless the two highest-ranked teams are within one spot of one another. Then, head-to-head results of those two teams determine the division champion.
• 6. Best overall winning percentage, excluding exempted games
• 7. Random draw

A team that is ineligible for a bowl game because of NCAA and/or Big Ten sanctions cannot compete in the Big Ten championship game. Here's how the divisional representative is determined if the champion is ineligible:

• 1. If the ineligible team is tied for the division title, the team it tied will compete in the Big Ten championship game
• 2. If two or more teams are tied with an ineligible team for the division title, then the ineligible team is removed and the other teams revert to the tiebreaker procedure
• 3. If the sole division winner is ineligible, the runner-up represents the division at the Big Ten title game
• 4. If the sole division winner is ineligible and two or more runners-up are tied, the process reverts to the tiebreaker procedure