The Buckeyes have owned pretty much every series with their Big Ten foes through the years outside of Michigan, a team that went 13-0-2 in the first 15 meetings of the series and now still only holds a six-game edge (sorry NCAA, we don't vacate games around these parts) as the Buckeyes close the gap and most assuredly would have cut the margin to five if the two teams would have been able to play this year.

If we take the four teams that have joined the conference in the last 40 years out of the mix (Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers) the Buckeyes are north of 68-percent against everyone else in the league and north of 80-percent against three teams, Northwestern being one of them.

This matters because one of the three teams that Ohio State is batting above .800 against is the next opponent, the Northwestern Wildcats.

The Buckeyes have only played the Cats 12 times in the 2000s, putting up an 11-1 record during that run. The two teams played yearly up (during this run) through 2008 and since then have played just four times due to the unbalanced scheduling of the Big Ten with nine league games and 13 conference mates to play.

As we dug deeper, the three teams that Ohio State holds the biggest edges with all have just two wins a piece against Ohio State in the past 50 years and Northwestern is the team that drew blood the most recent, a win back in 2004 and the Cats have done it by virtue of five fewer matchups than Minnesota and 11 fewer than Indiana.

But any way you slice it, it has been slim picking for Northwestern through the years against the Buckeyes.

How do we see this game going down? Let's get to the picks. And we want to thank our friends at Hague Water Conditioning who continue to support us here at BuckeyeGrove.com and their generous sponsorship of this piece is an invaluable addition to everything that we do here.

This is not the team that I expected to be writing about at this point of the season. The Cats were coming off of a 3-9 season in 2019, didn't really have any sort of an offensive identity in 2019 and like many, I was swayed to the jagged rocks by the siren's song of Wisconsin, buying that the Badgers would just reload and be good enough to navigate a ho-hum West.

And here we are.

I knew that Payton Ramsey would be an upgrade from the 2019 quarterback situation, I knew the defense would be pretty good too. But I was not ready to expect this team to win a lot of close games, and by a lot, try on four of the seven games were decided by eight points or less this season. Only a 43-3 win over Maryland to start the season and a nine-point loss to Michigan State (that really was a three-point game until the final play when a Spartan defender landed on the ball in the end zone for a meaningless touchdown, unless you had money on the game).

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So the Cats have learned a valuable lesson in how to win games. But that was not enough to get past Michigan State in a game that Northwestern really had no business losing.

I go back to the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game where Ohio State came into this contest with a wounded defense, a really good "one dimension" on offense and we saw a game for about a quarter after Ohio State took a 24-7 lead to the halftime locker room and then the Cats would shrink that lead to just three, 24-21 and then Ohio State would 21 of the last 24 points.

No, this 2020 team is going to learn from the mistakes of that 2018 team. If Ohio State could have kept its foot on the gas, not allowed the Cats to come up for air and could have won that game 45-10 instead of 45-21, that team would have had a better argument for the College Football Playoff.

Ryan Day may be saying to the media that style points are not in his mind at this point but Ohio State needs more of a 59-0 type of B1GCG rather than a 45-24 where it is just a three-point margin in the 3rd quarter to erase any doubts about Ohio State's short resume this year.

Northwestern will do some things to frustrate the Buckeyes on offense and Ohio State will have to adjust and adjust some more, likely taking a lot of underneath stuff before finally hitting some big plays. It may not be as sudden of a game as the Wisconsin trouncing but Ohio State's defense will do its part, the offense will follow in suit and the Buckeyes will win big and have the rest of the day to watch football. Ohio State 52, Northwestern 10

Just when it seemed appropriately pegged as a grind-you-out defensive stalwart with a sputtering pass attack and nearly nonexistent run game, Northwestern gave Ohio State a lot more to think about with its regular season finale against Illinois.

The Wildcats exploded for a monster 411-yard rushing performance against the Fighting Illini, which was more than they had in their previous four games combined.

Freshman running back and Ohio native Cam Porter emerged as a breakout star, as did fellow Evan Hull, another sparingly used option in the Northwestern run game up until that point, as both ran for more than 140 yards on the day.

Much of that production, especially in Porter’s case, came by way of the Wildcat formation, which is a wrinkle that the Buckeyes haven’t been exposed to much this season.

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Luckily for Ohio State, it’s been tremendous against the run this season, allowing a Big Ten second-best 95 yards per game on the ground, and if the Buckeyes can shut down the Wildcats’ running game, it might be a long day for Pat Fitzgerald and company.

Despite receiving the praises of Buckeye head coach Ryan Day, Northwestern quarterback Peyton Ramsey hasn’t exactly been the engineer of a high-flying pass attack –– which has proven to be Ohio State’s primary defensive weakness this season –– as the Wildcats average the second-fewest passing yards in the conference.

On the other end, Northwestern has a top 15 defense in the country, the best the Buckeyes have seen this season, but Ohio State’s run game has improved as the year has gone on to catch up to the potent pass attack of Justin Fields and company.

No team has been able to even slow down the Ohio State offense for more than a half this season, and I don’t see it happening this weekend either. Ohio State 41, Northwestern 17

It’s championship week for No. 4 Ohio State, and as the Buckeyes call it, ‘ring season.’

The term ‘style points’ has come up quite often this week, and while Ohio State doesn’t particularly need to blow out an opponent, it would be assuring to see one more ‘complete game’ from the team. I think it’ll take any opportunity it can to muzzle No. 14 Northwestern, offensively and defensively.

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Both teams look very different compared to the last time they met when the Buckeyes ran away with a 52-3 victory in Evanston. This season Peyton Ramsey has turned around the Wildcats’ passing scheme and presented a more viable ability to throw the football, but he’s also tossed the fifth-most interceptions in the Big Ten. Riding some momentum after a steadying performance last time out, I expect someone in the secondary not named ‘Shaun Wade’ will snag a pick.

Northwestern ran the football a tremendous number of times last week against Illinois, running 58 times for 411 yards. The Buckeyes rushing defense ranks second in the Big Ten, so should the Wildcats rely on Evan Hull and Cam Porter to carry the ball toward a title-game upset, they’ll be faced with a strong defense ahead of them. I think Northwestern will be held to less than 100 rushing yards.

Ohio State’s new-look offensive line stepped up at Michigan State, as did the tight ends contributing in the blocking game. I expect Luke Farrell and co. to continue just that, but Jeremy Ruckert made a flashy touchdown catch in last season’s championship game. Don’t sleep on the tight ends.

The Buckeyes haven’t had trouble out of the gate this season, but did overcome a rather slow start in last year’s title game. I expect this to be a game totally controlled by the Buckeyes as they outshine the Wildcats in a much-need showing of dominance. Ohio State 45 Northwestern 17

Ohio State’s title-game opponents seem to fall into one of two categories: high-level Wisconsin squads and scrappy, defensive Northwestern teams that jump out of nowhere.

This year just so happens to be the latter.

Northwestern may be one of the most surprising Big Ten Championship contestants since the game’s inception in 2011. The Wildcats are in control of one of the best defenses in the country but also own an uninspiring offense with no clear threats.

Only Illinois averages fewer passing yards per game in the Big Ten than Pat Fitzgerald’s team. Behind quarterback Peyton Ramsey, Northwestern essentially gave up on throwing the ball in its final game of the regular season, rushing 58 times for a ridiculous 411 yards on the ground.

This is a group that will muck things up on offense-- Fitzgerald understands his only real chance is to slow the pace of this game to a crawl and use his multitude of weapons on the ground.

Drake Anderson, Isaiah Bowser, and Evan Hull each have over 200 yards rushing and Northwestern can attack a defensive front in multiple ways, similar to what Ohio State saw against Nebraska.

There remains one pressing issue for the Wildcats’ attack: Ohio State has given up the second-fewest rushing yards per game in the Big Ten.

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Beyond bombing deep balls, there isn’t a realistic path to Northwestern putting up points on this Buckeye defense.

On the other side of the ball is where Fitzgerald makes his money. Northwestern is allowing less than 200 passing yards per game and has found success forcing turnovers with relentless pressure.

As Ohio State has seen in years past, the Wildcat defense will show multiple looks and attempt to completely eliminate any big play threat.

If Trey Sermon and Master Teague each find some room behind the Ohio State offensive line, we have seen what Fields and his receivers can create given enough time in the pocket.

The offensive "firepower" of Northwestern just isn’t enough to overcome Ohio State’s clear advantage. However, its defense will give the Buckeyes a much-needed test in Indianapolis. Ohio State 38, Northwestern 10

Northwestern’s defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz is a big part of their success in 2020. With the offense only averaging 25 points a game, the defense has had their work cut out for them. Hankwitz utilizes a 4-3 over quarters coverage defense. The defense is founded upon a bend but don’t break philosophy. They will force offense to drive the length of the field and put together 9-10 play drives.

Northwestern will run a quarters defense where Ohio State has shown they can beat that coverage over and over again. This makes me thing that Pat Fitzgerald will bring some adjustments into the Big Ten Championship Game. I expect Northwestern to run more cover 2 (they have shown it) to counteract the comeback routes Ohio State loves to run and force Fields to go through his progression more, and play tighter with their corners. Their corners are doing a much better job in their quarters coverage than in 2019, which leads me to believe they will play tighter.

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Ryan Day has shown that he can beat cover 2 in a multitude of ways (flooding defenders in their zone, matching Wilson on the LB carrying #3), so disguising it will be the way to go for Pat Fitzgerald. I would like to see Day use more play-action concepts to take advantage of the quarters defense. This will suck in the run heavy safeties and open up the vertical passing game. Within the structure of Pat Fitzgerald's defense, it will create a lot of 1 on 1 matchups for Ohio State receivers.

Defensively, Ohio State will be going up against an offense that hasn't shown much life. Northwestern is a run heavy football team, that loves to utilize power. This will play right into the hands of Ohio States strength on defense, stopping the run. The quarterback will be forced to beat Ohio State, and I just don't see that happening. Ohio State 42, Northwestern 14

The motto for Oho State's season has been "Ohio Against the World."

Even after everything the program went through to get to this point, there are people still questioning the legitimacy of this team as CFP-worthy. Whether it's some pundits in the media or head coaches from other schools, the Buckeyes have been on the receiving end of unwarranted criticism.

It's not as if they set out to only play five regular season games this year, or were happy when matchups with Maryland, Illinois and Michigan were flat-out canceled. The team was devastated, yet that opened up the doors for people to take shots at them.

In my opinion, all of this was bulletin-board material for Ryan Day and his team. They're going to go out on Saturday with a vengeance and something to prove to those naysayers.

First of all, Northwestern isn't a high-caliber football team. They have yet to play a game against a team that is above .500 this year, yet only won by double digits or more just two times. Also, they lost 20-29 against Michigan State on the road just under three weeks ago.

Whereas the Wildcats lost to the Spartans on the road, Ohio State was absolutely dominant in East Lansing, Michigan, a couple of weeks ago. Justin Fields had 303 combined yards and four touchdowns through the air and on the ground, with the Buckeyes coming out on top 52-12.

So, when factoring in the common opponents they played (Nebraska and Michigan State), the point margin for Ohio State was +75 while it was -1 for the Wildcats.

Northwestern may be able to keep Fields and company in check to some extent as their defense has been fairly impressive this year (just north of 14 points per game allowed and only 313 total yards per game allowed). In the end, however, I see the Buckeyes coming out on top in convincing fashion. Ohio State 37, Northwestern 17

In my mind, there's no question Ohio State beats Northwestern Saturday and captures its fourth straight Big Ten title. The Buckeyes have the No. 4 scoring offense and while Northwestern has assembled a respectable bend-but-don't break defensive structure that has them at No. 3 in scoring defense, it hasn't faced an attack like this.

Not in the slightest.

On the flip side, if not for a 400-yard outburst against Illinois the Wildcats would still be one of the 10 worst rushing offenses in the country, and still only rank No. 89 in scoring offense.

While the Buckeyes have had their issues defensively, they hold at No. 35 for scoring D.

The margin of victory, for me, comes down to two things: first, does junior quarterback Justin Fields have the patience and discipline to take the throws given to him and not force the ball against a soft zone? Indiana found success with a similar defensive gameplan. I believe he will, any concerns that arose against the Hoosiers Fields alleviated with his Michigan State performance.

The bigger question, as it always seems this season, is the secondary. Ohio State's front seven should do more than hold up against Northwestern's running game, and if the secondary can eliminate big pass plays down the field and allow the pass rush to get home a few times, the Wildcats could be in trouble on offense.

Too much talent, and I think Ohio State is in full championship mode. Ohio State 45 Northwestern 14

After losing the most important game of the year last week due to a COVID outbreak amongst TTUN, Ohio State enters this week's game with a chip on their shoulder, something that Northwestern does not need given the already sizable talent gap.

With their being doubts going around college football regarding if the Buckeyes should make the college football playoff or not due to their lack of games, they head into the Big Ten Championship undefeated, yet still with something to prove.

Going up against a gritty Northwestern squad who likes to grind out the run game and win with defense, Ohio State will not have an easy path to this season's crown. They may have room to make a mistake or two, however, I think some people are overlooking this Wildcat team, as too many critical miscues could certainly make the outcome of this game shock many people.

Thankfully, I do not think that is the case, as Justin Fields has been near perfect in every game but one this season and has the Buckeyes offense in a groove where it seems like if they don't score 40+, it was a bad day.

Defensively, I expect the front seven to be challenged but expect guys like Tommy Togiai, Jonathon Cooper and Haskell Garrett to set the tone early, forcing Northwestern to throw and allowing the secondary to do their thing.

While I expect both teams to come out looking to prove themselves, I see Ohio State having no trouble this Saturday, cruising to a Big Ten title and college football playoff birth. Ohio State 41, Northwestern 9

It’s finally here! After a not so grueling Big Ten season, the Buckeyes are back in the Big Ten Championship. If we win, our school will once upset coaches named Nick, Brian and Dabo who don’t think we belong but it won’t matter. The College Football Playoff committee will do the right thing and place us in either the Rose or Sugar Bowls where our kids will travel to play a day or so before the game, enjoy nothing but a nice hotel ballroom and an occasional bus ride to look at either palm trees or a bunch of idiots along Bourbon Street... but I digress.

Northwestern is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of college football. One week they beat Wisconsin (which we’ve learned in 2020 isn’t really much of a big deal) and the next week they lose to Michigan State. They barely beat Nebraska and their most impressive win was a one-point victory over Iowa. You’ll see where I’m going with this. They’re pretty good defensively but they don’t score many points. Even though we’re rumored to have more starters out, we can still score some points and our improving defense will get better on Saturday. Our talent will take over in the second half and then we’ll all be making our television watching plans for New Year’s Day to watch our guys sadden coaches named Nick, Brian and Dabo. Ohio State 34, Northwestern 14