The No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) will take on No. 8 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday night in Indianapolis, so we checked in with Kevin Noon of BuckeyeGrove.com to get the inside scoop on the Buckeyes.

Our questions and his answers are included below.

Ok, the biggest question I have about the Buckeyes is just how good do you think they are? I feel like they’re a team that’s been hard to get a good read on - what with the losses to Oklahoma and Iowa, and then impressive wins over Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan? Has there been a common thread in the wins or the losses?

Kevin Noon: This team has been very good, like as good as anyone in the nation, at times. At other times, it has not been a very good team. I think you can kind of explain away the losses, but it may be harder to explain how they get into holes in games like Penn State and Michigan only to come back and win the game in dramatic fashion. The loss to Oklahoma was just to a team that was better that night, had more experience at key positions and still the Buckeyes held the lead in the third quarter before ultimately falling. The Iowa game, the team was just flat, J.T. Barrett threw a pick-six on the first play and the ejection of Nick Bosa was a back-breaker, even though the score was 17-all at the time.

But how do you explain spotting Penn State an 18-point lead and Michigan a 14-point lead? Sure, Barrett was hurt before his first play of the Michigan game and Penn State was just a pretty good team as well. Though, you can also see some common themes of where Ohio State gets away from running with its running backs. That is ultimately an issue for this team. With all of the bells and whistles that they have on offense, the heart and soul of an Ohio State team is running the ball, with a running back. When Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins get the ball in their hands, generally good things happen. When the Buckeyes turn into a 20-30 carry night for J.T. Barrett, that means something generally has gone horribly wrong.

Defensively, this team goes as its linebackers go. The Buckeyes do miss the presence of Luke Fickell as its linebackers coach. That is not a slight of new coach Bill Davis, but it really is the one common thread how a group of linebackers (minus Raekwon McMillan) that is largely the same just seem to be playing much less disciplined on the field, getting lost in their assignments and just not tackling as well. Now, this is not something that happens in every game, it really doesn't happen in most games, but it has happened in key games and that is a concern.

It feels like the cast of characters has changed a few times over but J.T. Barrett is still around and making Ohio State’s offense click. What does he bring to the table that the Buckeyes would miss if he were to miss the game? And can you explain what the heck happened with the whole cameraman incident at the Michigan game?

Kevin Noon: J.T. Barrett is a master of the read-option and while there are some other talented QBs on the roster, none have the knowledge of that system the way that Barrett does. Plus he has the poise of a three-year captain, multiple Ohio State and Big Ten record holder and likely two-time Silver Football winner. Sure, he does not have the biggest arm in the league or even on the team and there certainly has not been a player that has been criticized as much as Barrett by his own fans at Ohio State in quite some time. But this guy wins, and wins a lot.

The read-option game goes down the drain to a degree if he is less than 70-percent and the coaches are going to be keeping an eye on it. But you know there is no way that Barrett, if he is able to plant, walk, and talk, will miss this game. The coaches will not only have to hide his helmet if he can't go, they might need to hide his uniform and pads.

If he is unable to go, Dwayne Haskins would get the call again. He is a strong-armed kid who can already make all/most of the throws on the field. He is not nearly the runner that Barrett is, in fact, I would say he is more of a pro-style quarterback. He showed that he could run though against Michigan, so it is not like he is a statuesque presence in the backfield, he has some mobility, just is not the Q-run threat that Barrett is.

Nobody around Columbus knows what really happened with the cameraman incident. If anyone did, they would have already been subpoenaed to appear in front of Urban Meyer, Gene Smith and the Ohio State administration.

Who are the names to know on the defensive side of the ball? What kind of scheme have the Buckeyes been running under Greg Schiano, and what has worked - and not worked - against them this season?

Kevin Noon: Just go up and down the defensive line to see the players that most teams focus on with the Buckeyes. Few teams have tried to face Ohio State straight up (outside of Oklahoma, a team that may have the best OL in the nation). Teams are rolling the pocket, throwing the ball quick and doing anything they can to minimize the role of guys like Nick Bosa, Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis and Jalyn Holmes at the defensive end spot. The Buckeyes may not be as deep at the tackle position but Dre'mont Jones has played his way into being a solid NFL draft pick.

Ohio State's secondary has been getting better as the season has gone on and Denzel Ward is an all-league type of performer at corner. He will continue Ohio State's ridiculous run of high-round draft picks out of the secondary.

The Buckeyes are best when they are not complicated on defense. It is a standard 4-3 defense with a cover four structure to it. Sure, there are some tweaks and the amount of blitzing really varies from opponent to opponent and series to series. The Buckeyes have been pretty successful when sending the extra guy but as with any blitz, there are risks involved.

Iowa did a really good job of scheming the Buckeyes into oblivion. For more on what Iowa did that worked our analyst breaks it down.

Has any team been able to effectively stop J.K. Dobbins this season? What does he do on the field that sets him apart from other Ohio State running backs, and how has his emergence changed the OSU offense, if at all?

Kevin Noon: Really Ohio State is the only team that has stopped J.K. Dobbins by not giving him the ball enough times. Illinois held Dobbins to his lowed YPC mark of 4.3 in a game that really did not need any more offensive firepower as the Buckeyes blasted the Illini 52-14, most of that coming in the first half before a torrential rain moved in and flooded Ohio Stadium.

Dobbins has had five 100-yard games this season and is well within striking distance of Ohio State's freshman rushing record as he sits at 1190 yards currently.

The return of Mike Weber to being fully healthy has diluted the carries to a certain degree and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Where things get bad is when Weber and Dobbins are both not getting the ball and Ohio State is trying to accomplish its goals without using the running back as anything more than a blocker.

Dobbins is just a shifty one-cut type of back with surprising speed. He will need to work on his strength some during the offseason but he is not weak now by any measure. A stronger Dobbins as a sophomore might be a nightmare for teams next year however as this league may be dominated by the two running backs we will be seeing tonight, one on each side.

Finally, what do you expect to see out of this game? Who wins the conference title and why? And if the Buckeyes win, do you think they have a shot at the playoff? Or did Alabama’s loss make their life much tougher?

Kevin Noon: I have gone round-and-round on this game and finally did arrive at a score, but I can't say that I have any confidence in it at this point and probably won't feel like I have a great read even as foot hits ball at 8:17 (ET) on Saturday night.

This game is matches two teams that seem to be built to stymie one another and that would force you to expect a low scoring game. But those types of games often end up being high scoring, for whatever reason. I still think we will see a game that is somewhere in between that.

Ohio State has been a heavily penalized team and a team that seems to make horrible mistakes at the worst times. Ohio State cannot afford to gift the Badgers anything, 12 wins this season already goes to show that Wisconsin is plenty good to win games on its own without any help from its opponent.

On the flip side, who has Wisconsin played, outside of Michigan? Is Northwestern is second biggest opponent and does Florida Atlantic really round out the top-three? I hate playing the game of "this team has played nobody" but the schedule is kind of barren. Yes, Wisconsin handled Iowa easily, a team that beat the tar out of Ohio State. Football is not subject to the transitive property however.

All of that aside, expect a back-and-forth game where each team has moments of looking great and moments where each are back on its heels. The Buckeyes are more vulnerable against a strong passing game than strong rushing attack and that is where Wisconsin will come up short. Baker Mayfield is not walking through that door, nor is Nathan Stanley who played the game of his life against Ohio State. The Buckeyes will remember they are a run-team at heart and will grind it out on a fast track at Lucas Oil and hold on for a close win. Ohio State 24, Wisconsin 17 -- and the Buckeyes will get into the CFP by the skin of their teeth and to the groans of the entire South.

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.