This includes absorption of Phil Steele's POV regarding same (heard today on Carpenter & Rothman) though, I am in some disagreement with his rankings.

But not about the following:

Oklahoma will not be distracted by Stoops' departure. I think the Sooners will be ready for the Buckeyes;

Penn State may find it difficult to live up to the Happy Valley Hype. Again, the Nitts will come to play in "old Columbus town";

Don't under-estimate scUM. There's plenty of talent in Ann Arbor. That said, I don't think 5 returning starters will be enough leadership to get them to The Game with less than 3 or 4 close losses [2 or 3 in the B1G (One against PSU on the road) and I expect the Badgers to beat theM the week prior, in Camp Randall] and

Steele is right to pick Wisconsin as B1G West champs. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were undefeated, when they meet the Bucks in Indy.

I fear this is the year, Ohio State loses a close one on the road to scUM. 

However, I feel a close loss on the road against the archest of all rivals and a solid victory over an undefeated Wisconsin in the 2017 B1G CG could lead to a real brain-buster: Ohio State winning the national championship in a year it lost to scUM.

My picks: