Ohio State will not even repeat as Big Ten Champions

Ohio State is favored to win another National Championship in 2015, but they’ll have to win the Big Ten first.

Ohio State is heading into the 2015 college football season as the obvious frontrunners to be crowned champions again. They’re defending National Champions with only three losses in three years under Urban Meyer. With Cardale Jones at quarterback, Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield, one of the best defenses in college football, and top tier talent littering the Buckeyes’ roster this season, their position as favorites is to be expected. However, winning the Big Ten is the first step in getting back to the top. Despite expectations, that’s not a foregone conclusion.

As a whole, the conference isn’t at the level that it has been in the past. The Michigan Wolverines are a question mark under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. Meanwhile, other traditionally quality teams in the Big Ten like the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan State Spartans look to be top-25 caliber, but seemingly not at the level of OSU.

Barring some major dark horse emerging in the Big Ten West, Wisconsin will be the representative in the conference championship game. They’re well coached and talented once again, but also have a nice schedul. Speaking strictly in the conference, they will avoid Michigan, Michigan State or Ohio State during the regular season.

However, if Ohio State is going to be unseated in the Big Ten, it’s going to happen by the Buckeyes not even making it to the Big Ten title game. And really, there’s only one team with the pedigree to pull that off this season: Michigan State.

Conference schedule shouldn’t be a problem for the Spartans. Though they play both Michigan and OSU on the road. However, there’s no reason to believe that the Spartans shouldn’t be undefeated in the Big Ten heading into their November 21 meeting with the Buckeyes in Columbus.

Last season, the Buckeyes pass defense that allowed only 201.1 passing yards per game last season and just 17 touchdowns to 25 interceptions. However, returning MSU quarterback Connor Cook still managed 358 yards, two touchdowns and threw no picks in the loss to OSU. As he returns for his senior season and even without Jeremy Langford, Cook and the Spartan offense should put points up, even against on of the nation’s best defensive units.

The biggest question about the matchup between MSU and OSU is if the Spartans defense can slow down Jones, Elliott and company. With J.T. Barrett at quarterback in their meeting last season, they weren’t able to do so as Barrett threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in addition to rushing for 86 yards and two TDs while Elliott grabbed 154 yards and two touchdowns of his own on the ground.

MSU should have one of the top front-fours in college football, anchored by a returning Shilique Calhoun. Despite Jones’ prowess at QB for the Buckeyes, the true key to slowing down Ohio State is limiting Elliott. That’s not an easy task considering the Spartans allowed just 3.17 yards per carry to opponents last season, but gave up 6.7 to Elliott on 24 carries. However, with an experienced line that has faced this version of OSU and Elliott, Michigan State has a shot to at least slow him down. If that happens, Sparty should at least be in the game in Columbus. It looks like an uphill battle, but there’s a logical scenario in which the Spartans take down OSU.

The monkey wrench in everything in the Big Ten is Harbaugh’s Michigan team. We’ve seen how effective he can be as a college coach and how he can get his teams up for big games. An upset win against their bitter rivals in OSU would change the dynamic of everything in the conference.

Everything considered, the Buckeyes are still favorites in the Big Ten and for a repeat as champs. However, there are roadblocks in the conference that could prevent that from happening. Call it crazy, but Ohio State is going to get tripped up. With MSU not far behind, that will cost them the Big Ten.

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