The 3Cs: Big Ten Championship Edition

BadgerBlitz.com's weekly feature, "The 3Cs," returns for the 2019 season. The staff takes a look at one thing we're curious, confident and concerned about heading into No. 8 Wisconsin's match-up on Saturday with No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game.

Editor and recruiting analyst Jon McNamara, senior writer Jake Kocorowski and staff writer Asher Low each give their thoughts on the aforementioned topics for this week.

McNamara: With a spot in the playoffs almost certainly off the table - even with a win over Ohio State - I'm curious where the Badgers ultimately end up, bowl-wise, come Sunday. A win would (likely) guarantee a spot in the Rose Bowl, and a competitive, four-quarter game against the top team in the country should produce the same result. But if the Badgers get blown out on the big stage, will Penn State be smelling roses?

Kocorowski: I am curious to see just what Wisconsin throws at Ohio State offensively on Saturday. In October, UW utilized Aron Cruickshank in a Wildcat look that gained 27 yards on one play, but it only mustered 191 yards and seven points in that loss. Since that defeat, the Badgers are stretching and attacking more of the field compared to what was seen against the Buckeyes.

My questions include just how far deep Paul Chryst and Joe Rudolph dig into the playbook, which calls they actually trust with the personnel available and, honestly, if the Badgers can throw off the Buckeyes enough to gash them for big-time chunk plays.

Low: I am very curious to see how Wisconsin’s offensive line holds up against the Buckeyes and Chase Young. The Badgers were decimated in the trenches against OSU in Columbus and Jonathan Taylor only rushed for 52 yards because of it. The health of left guard David Moorman (questionable), a starter on the line, will be a factor for the group. Young was being blocked by UW tight end Jake Ferguson at times during the last meeting.

McNamara: Truthfully, I don't know if there's anything I'm too confident about heading into this contest. Ohio State, which features the No. 1 scoring offense (49.9 points per game) and No. 4 scoring defense (11.8 points per game) in the country, is just loaded on both sides of the ball. With that, I'm confident it will take a near perfect performance from Wisconsin to come out on top Saturday.

Kocorowski: This may seem like a small part of the game, but whatever, I am extremely confident in Zach Hintze and the kickoff coverage unit. Besides his 62-yard field goal against Purdue and his day in Minnesota -- which included making a chip-shot field goal and all five extra points last weekend -- he continues to blast the pigskin into the end zone on his kickoffs. Sixty-one (61!) of his 79 attempts have resulted in touchbacks this season.

Overall, I feel confident that this third phase of the game -- including Cruickshank as a kickoff returner -- will be better in Indianapolis.

Low: I am confident in the offensive scheme come Saturday. Against Minnesota, the Badgers showed they can score in a variety of ways. Touchdowns came from a long bomb to Quintez Cephus, a wheel route by Jonathan Taylor and a misdirection end around run by Kendric Pryor, to name a few. Chryst and his team seem to be calling a much less conservative game in comparison to when these two teams last met. I think Wisconsin will dial up the right calls at the right times.

McNamara: Like Asher talks about below, it would be concerning if Wisconsin falls behind by two or more scores at any point in this contest. Simply put - the Badgers can't play catch-up and need to trade blows back and forth against Ohio State, much like we saw in the first half when these two teams met in the regular season. A deficit against the Buckeyes, even as small as 14 points, could be too big of a hole to dig out of.

Kocorowski: I am concerned playing in a conference championship game could hurt Wisconsin’s standing to get to the Rose Bowl. When the penultimate rankings were released on Tuesday, UW moved up to No. 8 while Penn State stayed at No. 10; both recorded 10-2 seasons. College Football Playoff selection committee chair Rob Mullens stated that Wisconsin has three top 25 wins this season, which is why the committee decided to place the Badgers as the top two-loss team in the nation.

Should winning your division cost you a shot at Pasadena and a Pac-12 opponent? No, absolutely not. Will Wisconsin's play on Saturday against the most complete team in college football likely dictate a potential New Year’s Six bowl destination? In my non-insider opinion, likely. Will the next-highest ranked conference team after Ohio State actually even receive the bid to the Rose Bowl? We just won’t know until the committee and bowls announce the match-ups on Sunday afternoon.

Low: My concern is that Justin Fields, J.K. Dobbins and this Ohio State offense will start fast. They actually did not get out of the gates quickly last time these two teams met, but a first-quarter deficit of 10 or more would deem this thing over from the get go. With the big-play capabilities of this Ohio State offense, and the chunk plays the Badgers have given up in recent weeks, one has to be concerned about a few of those happening early. Wisconsin cannot afford to play from behind in Indianapolis.