It's very interesting to note that the B1G is about as top heavy as the Pac was when it was referred to as USC and the 9 dwarfs. That situation cost the Trojans in a big way because they were viewed to have a very weak SOS despite their willingness to travel to play tOSU, Auburn, Arkansas, etc. USC was viewed by many as having a tougher OOC schedule to make up for the lack of competitive opponents in conference play... (By the way, that had nothing to do with the reason why USC played a tougher OOC slate. They did so because they have always stacked their OOC schedule with top opponents regardless of overall conference strength.) However as is the case with tOSU's conference schedule, every conference loss hurts them worse than most other national contenders in other conferences. They are almost guaranteed to be disqualified from NC consideration if they don't go undefeated in conference play most years.
One more interesting note about tOSU...
They had a devil of a time trying to defeat ANY SEC team every time they scheduled one or played one in a bowl game going back many years. Enter Urban Meyer, an old SEC HC with a NC trophy to show for his efforts at Florida. Now it appears that tOSU has turned the tables on SEC opponents by recently beating the best the SEC has to offer. So much for that old trend.
