In what is typically the slowest sports week of the year, the SEC has dominated the headlines of the college football world thanks to the conference's annual media days. The Big Ten's own showcase with the press is only a week away, which can only mean one thing: Actual football is right around the corner.
With that in mind, let's get to this week's Big Ten Q&A, where we'll tackle the top-to-bottom strength of the league, Ohio State's biggest weakness, the potential for a brand new recruiting tool and a little drama in East Lansing.
As always, you can send me your questions each week on Twitter @BenAxelrod.
Let's get started.
Growing up around the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, the phrase "Big Two, Little 10" was often tossed around, but really, it's been a while since that's been an accurate description of the Buckeyes and Wolverines' combined dominance over the rest of their conference.
In fact, you'd have to go back to 2007 to find the last time Ohio State and Michigan each still had Big Ten title hopes heading into the final week of the regular season—that was until last season, when Michigan State wound up winning the conference.
But with the way Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh have stood head and shoulders above the rest of the conference on the recruiting trail, it's easy to see why some may be starting to view the Big Ten as the Buckeyes, Wolverines and everyone else. That, however, ignores what the Spartans have accomplished in the past three years under Mark Dantonio and what could still be ahead in East Lansing.
As impressive as Meyer has been since arriving at Ohio State four years ago, it's worth remembering that Michigan State has won two of the past three Big Ten titles, both of which have come in years where the Spartans have gotten the best of the Buckeyes.
Having also won his lone head-to-head matchup with Harbaugh, Dantonio currently lays claim to a 3-2 record against the Big Ten's two most prominent coaches, whom he'll now be facing each season for the foreseeable future.
And while Michigan State has no shortage of talent departures to deal with moving forward, it's just now the Spartans are beginning to reap the recruiting rewards that often accompany on-field success. If Dantonio's been able to do what he's done with 3-star prospects, imagine what he'll be able to accomplish with a roster full of 4-stars, regardless of how far his classes lag behind Meyer's and Harbaugh's in the recruiting rankings.
Factor in a Big Ten West that's actually stronger than many people realize, and the conference is arguably as healthy as it's ever been from top to bottom. That, of course, is subject to change, but at the moment, the Big Ten appears to be far from just a two-team league, both now and in the future.
Looking at the preseason award watch lists that have been released over the course of the past two weeks, one thing in particular has stood out when it's come to Ohio State. Sure, J.T. Barrett has been present on most of the Quarterback and Player of the Year awards lists, and Buckeye defenders like Raekwon McMillan have been listed elsewhere, but with watch-list season now complete, there isn't an Ohio State skill player to be found.
Not on the watch list of the Biletnikoff Award, nor on the one for the Doak Walker Award or John Mackey Award and certainly not on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award.
It's tough to recall a time when a Buckeyes wide receiver, running back or tight end couldn't be found on a preseason watch list, given Ohio State's rich history at such positions. This year, however, won't be any ordinary season in Columbus, with 12 draftees—including a running back, two wideouts and a tight end—headed to the NFL.
But while the holes in the Buckeyes depth chart are unprecedented, so have been the recruiting classes Meyer will now be filling them with. You may not know their names now, but don't be surprised if players like Torrance Gibson, Austin Mack, Noah Brown, Mike Weber and Marcus Baugh step right in as impact playmakers from day one, despite not being present on any preseason watch lists.
Ultimately, however, both Meyer and Barrett will find themselves relying on plenty of unknowns at the skill spots heading into the coming year. And if it's going to have one, that could ultimately be Ohio State's downfall in a season where few known quantities outside of Barrett are present on the roster.
Originally, the answer to this question seemed like a no-brainer. As innovative as Michigan has been on the recruiting trail under Harbaugh, the Wolverines would have to be the first program to find a way to incorporate the phenomenon that's become "Pokemon Go" into it's recruiting material, right?
And while I'm sticking with my answer of Michigan for this question, it now comes with a different reasoning. While it wouldn't have been a surprise to see the Wolverines take a pro-Pokemon stance in the near future regardless of what their rivals were up to, Ohio State's seeming disdain for the app has only made Michigan's use of it all the more likely.
The Buckeyes' issue with Pokemon Go started earlier this week, when Columbus users were allegedly sneaking into Ohio Stadium in an effort to catch digital creatures. This led to the official Brutus Buckeye Twitter account issuing a warning that no Pokemon could be found inside The Horseshoe, although some users have claimed otherwise.
Then there came a post from Ohio State's official Twitter account on Thursday, which showed Barrett taking out a Pikachu with a football as his teammates searched for the digital creatures inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Considering the video went viral within moments of being posted, perhaps the Buckeyes are now more Pokemon-friendly than originally thought. In fact, they may have just beaten Michigan—and the rest of the conference—in firing off the first Poke Ball on the recruiting trail, which I can't believe is a sentence I actually just wrote in 2016.
For those of you unfamiliar with Jermaine Edmondson, he's the Michigan State defensive back who was allegedly involved in a fight with former Spartan and Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green, which led to Green being arrested for assault earlier this week.
Well, Edmondson was a Michigan State defensive back, until he opted to transfer from East Lansing later in the week, as details in the case continued to emerge.
"In discussions with Jermaine Edmondson following spring practice and in the weeks thereafter, it became clear that Jermaine wanted to play a larger role on the team," Dantonio said in a statement. "After consulting with him in the summer, he felt it was in his best interest to finish his playing career elsewhere. We have granted his immediate release to transfer to another institution to have that opportunity.”
Nevertheless, it's hard to imagine the timing of Edmondson's transfer being a coincidence.
So what we have here is a case of Sparty-on-Sparty crime, with one of MSU's most famous alums being charged with misdemeanor assault and a Spartans football player transferring in wake of the fallout. It remains unclear what caused the alleged altercation between Green and Edmondson, although according to WLNS, a part of it was Edmondson feeling "disrespected" that the NBA All-Star didn't recognize him.
If that's the case, this may very well be "peak Sparty" indeed. After all, no other program in college football has placed a more prominent chip (or chips) on its shoulder than Michigan State, although thus far, it's hard to argue with the results.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. Recruiting and class ratings courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings.
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