These 5 teams will make the College Football Playoff soon

If a Big Ten West team ever wins in Indianapolis, it’ll probably be Wisconsin.

For every team on this list, there usually is one big obstacle they have to overcome. With teams like the Texas Longhorns, it’s a hated conference rival. With teams like the USC Trojans, it’s about finally figuring out how to get out of one’s own way. And now that we’re examining the Wisconsin Badgers, we have arrived somewhere in the middle with winning conference championships.

Wisconsin has been the preeminent program in the Big Ten West since the Big Ten kicked the Leaders and Legends nonsense to the curb a few years back. Though having to face someone like the Ohio State Buckeyes in Indianapolis annually, that’s what it’s all about for the Badgers. We know they can win the Big Ten West, but can they beat whoever comes out of the Big Ten East?

If it’s the Buckeyes, the Badgers might be at a simple talent disadvantage. We know Paul Chryst is a great coach, just like what Ohio State has in Ryan Day. However, there’s more talent in-state in Ohio than there is in Wisconsin. The Badgers might be able to go toe-to-toe with the Buckeyes in the trenches, but out on the perimeter, they rarely have a shot. Ohio State is just too fast.

There are three reasons Wisconsin can get to the playoff as soon as this season. One, they have tough competition in-division in P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota Golden Gophers amping up the intensity. Two, the gap between Chryst and Day isn’t as vast as it was with Urban Meyer previously. And three, the Penn State Nittany Lions or the Michigan Wolverines can win the Big Ten East.