The 2021 Big Ten Championship Game featured the Michigan Wolverines, champions of the East Division, and the Iowa Hawkeyes, champions of the West Division. This was the teams' 62nd all-time meeting, with Michigan entering the game leading the series 42–15–4.[2] The teams first met in 1900 and have met frequently since the early 1950s as Big Ten Conference opponents.[3] They last met in 2019, a game which resulted in a 10–3 Michigan win.[4] Further, this was the first time that Michigan and Iowa met in the postseason.[3]
In its eleventh year of existence, this year marked Michigan's first-ever appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game.[5] Iowa made its second appearance after debuting in 2015 in a loss to the Michigan State Spartans.[6] Michigan entered the game seeking its 43rd all-time conference championship,[2] while Iowa entered seeking its 12th;[7] each team's last title came in 2004, when the Wolverines and Hawkeyes shared the conference crown.[8] This game also marked the first time since 2016 that the East Division was not represented by Ohio State.[9]
Seventh-year head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines began their 2021 season with a series of four straight home games at Michigan Stadium.[10] The first, against Western Michigan, saw the Wolverines dominate the Broncos by five touchdowns,[11] before defeating Washington in a game that drew considerably less hype after the Huskies' upset loss to Montana the week prior.[12][13] The Wolverines earned a spot at No. 25 in the AP Poll entering their third game,[14] a matchup with Northern Illinois, which they won handily.[15] Michigan then claimed a close decision against Rutgers on homecoming,[16] improving the Wolverines to 4–0 and placing them into the top 15.[17] Entering October, the Wolverines faced their first road conference games; they first faced Wisconsin, whom they defeated by three touchdowns,[18] and then took down Nebraska, though only by three points, thanks to a Jake Moody field goal with under two minutes remaining.[19] This set up the Wolverines for one of the most anticipated matchups of the season so far, a rivalry faceoff between No. 6 Michigan and No. 8 Michigan State, marking the first time since 1964 that the teams had met while each in the top ten.[20] After a back-and-forth game, the Spartans prevailed with a four-point win, handing Michigan its first loss of the season.[21] The Wolverines were able to bounce back, as they began November with a win over Indiana,[22] and followed it up with a road win in State College against the Penn State Nittany Lions.[23] In its final road game, Michigan routed Maryland, winning by 41 points.[24] After this win the Wolverines were ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff poll entering their home finale against archrivals No. 2 Ohio State.[25] For the first time ever under Harbaugh, and the first time since 2011, the Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes and, with the victory, clinched its spot in the championship game with a 8–1 conference record and a head-to-head tiebreaker against Ohio State.[26] As a result of the win, Michigan rose to No. 2 in the College Football Playoff poll entering the Big Ten Championship, behind only No. 1 Georgia.[27]
With 23rd-year head coach Kirk Ferentz at the helm, the Iowa Hawkeyes got their season off to a quick start with wins over two ranked opponents in their first two games.[29] Their season opener saw No. 18 Iowa defeat No. 17 Indiana by four touchdowns,[30] which put them into the top ten in time for their second game, at No. 9 Iowa State. After capturing the lead in the second quarter, Iowa did not relinquish it, and upset the Cyclones by ten points.[31] This win vaulted Iowa to No. 5 in the AP Poll,[32] where they remained through their next two home non-conference victories against Kent State and Colorado State.[33][34] The Hawkeyes returned to conference play with a road tilt against Maryland, whom they defeated handily.[35] Now 5–0 and ranked No. 3,[36] Iowa returned home to play host to No. 4 Penn State; the Hawkeyes trailed by double-digits in the first quarter but recovered to win the game 23–20,[37] which put them at No. 2 in the polls.[38] Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, their bid for an undefeated season would come to an end the following week, as they were upset by Purdue at home.[39] Iowa would go on to drop their next game as well, a road matchup with Wisconsin, having been outscored 14–51 in their back-to-back losses.[40] These setbacks dropped Iowa to No. 22 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings,[41] but the Hawkeyes bounced back effectively with a road win at Northwestern[42] and home wins against Minnesota and Illinois.[43][44] Going into the final weekend of the regular season, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin remained in contention for a spot in the championship game.[45] The Hawkeyes defeated Nebraska on November 26,[46] thereby eliminating Minnesota from contention for the championship game.[47] On November 27, Minnesota defeated Wisconsin, giving Iowa the outright division championship and a place in the title game.[48]
^"Week 13 Football Release" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. November 22, 2021. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
