INDIANAPOLIS — Mark Dantonio and Kirk Ferentz kept the discussion on point Friday.
The Michigan State and Iowa coaches are in Indianapolis to win a Big Ten championship. Nothing more.
They’ll let everyone else debate the hot-button issues — the national championship picture, whether two teams from the same conference deserve to make the playoffs and which league is the nation’s best.
“We’ve been here before,” Dantonio said. “This is still goal No. 1 for us.”
Even amid the festive environment surrounding Lucas Oil Stadium, the conventional wisdom is that the title game Saturday night is essentially a play-in for one of the four precious spots in the second College Football Playoff. If a few other things break the right way, another Big Ten team may slip in.
Don’t discount it.
Unbeaten Iowa, championship game favorite Michigan State and defending national champion Ohio State were ranked Nos. 4, 5 and 6 this week by The Associated Press and the College Football Playoff committee and their résumés might not make it any easier.
The Spartans and Buckeyes both finished 11-1 overall and 7-1 in conference play, but East Division champion Michigan State earned its third ticket to Indy in five years by upsetting Ohio State in Columbus two weeks ago.
West Division champ Iowa (12-0, 8-0) is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision and, along with Michigan State, was one of five FBS teams with multiple road wins over ranked foes.
With three teams ranked in the top six and five in the CFP’s top 15, the discussion has now turned to whether the Big Ten deserves two spots in the playoff — a subject neither coach was willing to touch.
“It’s great for interest in the sport. I’m not knocking it by any stretch, but I think it’s a lot of rhetoric,” Ferentz said. “Really what happens is things get decided on the field.”
That’s one point both coaches agree on.
The Spartans have emerged as a perennial Big Ten title contender, winning a major bowl each of the past two seasons. What they haven’t done, since 1966, is claim a national title. A victory this weekend would give them a chance to end that drought.
Iowa, on the other hand, is 12-0 for the first time in school history and is trying to complete its first undefeated season since 1922.
“It’s been a magical season in some ways,” Ferentz said. “I’ve never been on a football team that was 12-0.”
Championship Saturday
AMERICAN
No. 20 Temple at Houston, 10 a.m.
CONFERENCE USA
Southern Miss at W. Kentucky, 10 a.m.
SEC
No. 18 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama, 2 p.m.
MOUNTAIN WEST
Air Force at San Diego State, 5:30 p.m.
PAC-12
USC vs. No. 7 Stanford, 5:45 p.m.
ACC
No. 8 N. Carolina vs. No. 1 Clemson, 6 p.m.
BIG TEN
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Iowa, 6 p.m.