BTN.com staff, August 10, 2015
There's less than a month to the opening of the college football season, so it's time for our annual countdown to kickoff series.
[ MORE: Get all of our preseason Big Ten football coverage ]
The BTN.com team starts things off with our picks for the top 2015 non-conference game.
There are several worthy selections, including TCU at Minnesota, Wisconsin vs. Alabama, Ohio State at Virginia Tech and Oregon at Michigan State.
See Tom Dienhart, Sean Merriman and Brent Yarina's picks below.
Tuesday, come back for our top under-the-radar game.
Tom Dienhart: Ohio State at Virginia Tech, Sept. 7. Given the expectations for the Buckeyes-and the fact they will be missing some key suspended players-this is a huge game for OSU and its national title hopes vs. a very good Hokies squad that beat the Buckeyes last year.
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Sean Merriman: Michigan State vs. Oregon, Sept Two Top 10 teams in Week 2 of the college football season! You gotta go with this game, right? Oregon got the best of MSU last season, but this year?s matchup will take place in Spartan Stadium. It?s not often you come across a game this early in the season that will have major College Football Playoff implications. Shilique Calhoun and the stout Spartan defense vs. Royce Freeman and the speedy Oregon offense? To quote Bart Scott - ?can?t wait!?
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Brent Yarina: Wisconsin vs. Alabama, Sept. 6. The Big Ten can continue to rewrite the narrative, and what better way to do it than vs. the mighty Crimson Tride in the opening weekend at Jerry World? This game has so much on the line for the Badgers, the Big Ten, the SEC and the entire playoff picture (yes, in Week 1).
