Ohio State appears to have plenty of competition in the Big Ten as the Buckeyes begin conference play this week.

While we agree with the widespread consensus that Ohio State is the class of the conference, that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes will easily run the table to a Big Ten title. Their conference schedule includes three of the conference’s other marquee teams – Oregon, Penn State and Michigan – while Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska have all established themselves firmly in the middle of the conference’s pack with the potential to surge higher.

Ohio State’s first Big Ten opponent can’t be overlooked either. Michigan State enters this week’s matchup against the Buckeyes with a 3-1 record, having already earned one conference win over Maryland, and the Spartans will be the toughest competition Ohio State has faced so far this season on both sides of the ball after the Buckeyes started their year with a trio of tuneup games against overmatched Group of 5 opponents.

That said, we spend most of this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays taking a big-picture look at the Big Ten and assessing which teams have impressed us most through the first four weeks of the season before turning our attention to the matchup with Michigan State and making our predictions for how the Buckeyes’ battle with the Spartans will play out.

The full rundown for this week’s episode:

• 0:00 Intro – The Tests Start Getting Tougher This Week at Michigan State
• 5:52 Oregon is Still Ohio State’s Top Competition in the Big Ten
• 10:08 Penn State is Probably the Big Ten’s Third-Best Team, But Big Tests Await vs. Illinois and USC
• 14:17 Illinois and Even Nebraska Look Improved, But Both Still Have to Prove Themselves
• 16:28 Michigan Shows It Can’t Be Written Off With Win over USC
• 23:05 Indiana Looks Like An 8+ Win Team
• 27:45 Rutgers is Off to An Impressive Start, Too
• 31:14 Iowa’s Resurgent Running Game Makes It Dangerous
• 35:24 Ranking Ohio State’s Big Ten Games From Most Difficult (Oregon) to Least Difficult (Purdue)
• 45:25 Aidan Chiles’ Ability to Throw Deep and Run Makes Michigan State A Test for OSU Defense
• 54:22 MSU’s Balanced Defense Will Be Toughest Competition So Far for Ohio State Offense
• 56:19 Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Michigan State
• 59:03 As Big Ten Play Begins, The Focus Should Be On One Week At A Time