Big Ten Q&A: Could 2 B1G Teams Make the College Football Playoff?

After eight excruciating months, the 2016 college football season has arrived. Now that there's actually football to talk about, what better time to reprise the ole Big Ten Q&A?

This week, we'll tackle the conference's odds of having two playoff representatives, a burgeoning battle between the Ohio State and Michigan offenses, the odds that J.T. Barrett can become the next Buckeye to hoist the Heisman Trophy and the third-best team in the Big Ten.

As always, you can send me your questions each week on Twitter @BenAxelrod.

Let's get started.

Question 1

Could two Big Ten teams make the playoff? Sure.

Is it likely? Not really.

When it comes to forecasting which teams will comprise the College Football Playoff at the end of the regular season, we now have two years' worth of precedents to examine. While that's a small sample size, it's not a coincidence that all eight of the playoff participants to date have been outright conference champions, with "championships won" listed as the first point of criteria for the selection committee to look at on the playoff's official website.

In order for two teams from the Big Ten—or any conference—to crash the playoff, it would take a special circumstance that is not just dependent on the qualifications of the league's two candidates, but also those of the other teams in consideration across the country. The good news for the Big Ten is that, with Wisconsin's win over LSU this past weekend, such a situation in the conference could still be alive, although for how much longer remains to be seen.

Even after beating the mighty Tigers, the Badgers find themselves preparing to play a murderers' row of conference foes come the start of Big Ten play, with consecutive games against Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa kicking off their conference slate. As impressive as Wisconsin's resume could potentially be at season's end, the Badgers seem much more likely to be the best 8-4 or 7-5 team in college football at the end of the year, which probably wouldn't be enough to win the Big Ten West, let alone make the playoff.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Assuming the winner of the Big Ten East—be it the Buckeyes, Wolverines or Spartans—remains unscathed or suffers just one defeat heading into the conference championship game, it would probably take an undefeated champion in the West for both teams in the title game to have realistic playoff hopes, win or lose. Perhaps Iowa could once again play the part of unlikely playoff candidate, but even a 12-0 regular season a year ago wasn't enough for the Hawkeyes' title game defeat to keep them in the final four.

More importantly, what happens in the other Power Five conferences—and maybe with Houston, too—would determine the upside of the Big Ten's playoff presence.

For now, the dream remains alive. But it will likely be short-lived.

Question 2

"

@BenAxelrod after an awesome week 1 of offense, who finishes with the better offense OSU or Michigan?

— Stevie Paul (@steviepaul99) September 4, 2016"

As impressive as Michigan looked in its debut against Hawaii, totaling 512 yards and 63 points against the Rainbow Warriors, it's hard to go against Ohio State at the moment.

Even with all the talent the Buckeyes lost from a year ago, including star running back Ezekiel Elliott and four NFL-caliber receivers in Michael Thomas, Braxton Miller, Nick Vannett and Jalin Marshall, the OSU offense didn't just look impressive in its 2016 debut; it looked improved.

Granted, the Buckeyes' nation-high 776-yard, 77-point performance came against Bowling Green, but even with an undermanned opponent, it was easy to see how this year's unit could make strides that last year's squad never seemed to take despite its abundance in talent.

Most notably, Barrett's ability as a distributor stood out, as the redshirt junior completed passes to six different receivers before being pulled with the game in hand midway through the third quarter, having amassed 379 total yards and seven touchdowns. Mike Weber, meanwhile, may not be ready to fill Elliott's shoes on his own, but he looked impressive enough, combining with H-back Curtis Samuel to make quite the dynamic duo with 397 total yards and three touchdowns between them.

As for the Wolverines, Wilton Speight looked steady in his first start, and the pieces appear to be in place for Jim Harbaugh to continue to mold his pro-style offense in Ann Arbor. But at Ohio State, Urban Meyer seems to have too significant of a head start for anyone in the conference to challenge his team as the Big Ten's top offense in 2016.

Question 3

In Bleacher Report's first expert picks piece of the season, I forecast Barrett to raise the Stiff Arm Trophy at season's end.

So far, so good.

Yes, it was only one game, and it was against a mid-major opponent, but my logic seemed to stand up as to why Barrett will be college football's top player at year's end. After the mass exodus of talent in Columbus, Barrett is now surrounded with pieces that better suit his style as a passer on a big-name team that will rely on him to carry it throughout the 2016 campaign.

Across the country, Barrett appears to have gained pole position in the Heisman Trophy race, and ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach ranked him as his top candidate at the end of Week 1. At this point in the season, that means little, but after an up-and-down 2015, the Buckeyes quarterback is back at the forefront of the college football landscape.

Kirk Irwin/Getty Images

Next up for Ohio State and Barrett is Tulsa, which surrendered 234 passing yards to San Jose State in its season debut. Should Barrett continue to pad his impressive stat line, a Week 3 trip to Norman to face Oklahoma will present an opportunity to make a statement and further his Heisman campaign.

Again, this is just one week, so overreactions are natural. But with ho-hum performances from preseason favorites Deshaun Watson and Leonard Fournette in their 2016 debuts, it didn't take long for Barrett to emerge as the new early-season front-runner.

Just don't forget who called it first.

Question 4

I'm assuming—perhaps incorrectly—that this question is ranking Ohio State and Michigan as the Big Ten's top two teams and wondering who should be behind the Buckeyes and Wolverines.

While that seemed to be the preseason consensus across the country, at this point shouldn't we give Wisconsin the benefit of the doubt?

While there wasn't a lot to like about LSU in its defeat at the hands of the Badgers, that doesn't change the fact the Tigers entered the season ranked fifth in the Associated Press Top 25. Wisconsin, meanwhile, entered the year unranked despite coming off a 10-3 season that included a win over USC in the Holiday Bowl.

With the Big Ten West wide open, the Badgers should be considered the early favorites, although with their aforementioned daunting start to the conference calendar, that status may be short-lived. But as impressive as Ohio State and Michigan looked, neither team pulled off a win over an opponent from a Power Five conference, let alone one with a Top Five ranking. Wisconsin currently lays claim to the most monumental win in the conference one week in.

If you're working off power rankings, right now I'd have to put the Buckeyes first, the Wolverines second and the Badgers third.

But as far as actual results are concerned, Wisconsin deserves to be at the top of that list after a strong start for the Big Ten in 2016.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod.

Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand. Recruiting and class ratings courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings.