Wisconsin holds off MSU in Big Ten final

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Montee Ball ran for three touchdowns including the decisive 7-yard score with 3:45 to go, leading No. 15 Wisconsin past No. 11 Michigan State 42-39 in the inaugural Big Ten championship game.

Wisconsin (11-2) is now headed to its second straight Rose Bowl.

Ball ran 27 times for 137 yards and caught a TD pass, giving him 38 touchdowns this season. That’s one short of Barry Sanders’ single-season record.

Russell Wilson was 17 of 24 for 187 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. He set a new NCAA record with a TD pass in his 37th straight game. Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell had the previous mark of 36.

The Big Ten’s first championship game made the idea of a conference title tilt seem like a good one.

Michigan State (10-3) rallied from a 21-7 first-quarter deficit to take a 29-21 halftime lead and still led 39-34 after Dan Conway’s 25-yard field midway through the fourth quarter.

But Wilson and Ball answered with a score and a 2-point conversion.

No. 3 Oklahoma State 44, No. 10 Oklahoma 10

STILLWATER, Okla.

Joseph Randle ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, Richetti Jones returned a fumble for a score and Oklahoma State throttled Oklahoma to win the Big 12 championship and make its case to play for a national title.

The Cowboys (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) snapped an eight-game losing streak in the Bedlam rivalry and won their first outright conference title since 1948 in the three-team Missouri Valley.

No. 21 clemson 38, no. 5 virginia tech 10

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Tajh Boyd threw three touchdown passes and ran for another as Clemson won its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 20 years.

The Tigers (10-3) clinched their first Orange Bowl berth since 1981, the year they won their only national championship.

Clemson won’t be playing for a national title, but the victory was still sweet considering they’d lost three of four to close the season.