Power 5 Questions: Will Ohio State's rule over Big Ten continue, or is it Michigan's year?

The Big Ten hasn't come close to a national championship since Ohio State won it in 2014.

The conference hasn't even scored a point in the College Football Playoff in four years.

Michigan State was shut out by Alabama in 2015. Ohio State suffered the same fate against Clemson in 2016. In each of the last two seasons, the playoff committee left the Big Ten out.

theScore continues its look at the major college football conferences by asking five pressing questions about the Big Ten as it enters 2019.

Can a new coach and quarterback keep Ohio State on top?

Few teams can match Ohio State's consistency as a program in the BCS and College Football Playoff eras.

Since 2005, the Buckeyes have won 10-plus games in 13 of 14 seasons. They also won the national championship in 2014, the first year of the playoff format.

But it's a new day in Columbus. It's Ryan Day's program.

Day, 40, joined the coaching staff in 2017 as co-offensive coordinator. He served as head coach for the first three games last season after Urban Meyer was suspended for his handling of domestic abuse allegations against former assistant coach Zach Smith.

Ohio State is Day's first head coaching job. But that won't reduce the pressure to immediately compete for a national championship. Jim Tressel went 14-0 in his second season in Columbus. Meyer went 12-0 in Year 1.

Day heads into 2019 with a new quarterback, too: Georgia transfer Justin Fields. Fields gained a little experience (39 pass attempts, 266 rushing yards) as a freshman backing up Jake Fromm with the Bulldogs. The 6-foot-3 sophomore has unquestioned talent. It's a matter of whether he'll be able to play well while gaining starting experience in a tough division.

The good news for Day and Fields is the Buckeyes should be able to rely on a veteran-heavy defense. Defensive end Chase Young (10.5 sacks in 2018) and safety Jordan Fuller lead a group of nine returning starters. Cornerback Jeff Okudah has first-round potential with a strong junior season.

Fields can get acclimated during a soft first four games before Ohio State's first real test Sept. 28 at Nebraska.

Will Michigan finally make good on expectations?

Jim Harbaugh has averaged 9.5 wins per season in four years since returning to Ann Arbor, Mich. Not bad for most programs.

Michigan, though, has harbored higher hopes than that since bringing in the idiosyncratic coach, and the Wolverines haven't finished higher than 10th in a final AP poll. Also looming over the program: a 1-14 record in the last 15 meetings with Ohio State, including last November's 62-39 debacle.

That loss knocked Michigan out of the Big Ten title game, a destination it still has not reached.

Big Ten championship game by year

Might 2019 be the year? Quarterback Shea Patterson returned for his senior season after throwing for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns. Defensive coordinator Don Brown must reload after losing six starters, but the secondary (cornerback Lavert Hill and safety Josh Metellus) contains veterans.

Michigan's schedule is favorable. The Wolverines get Notre Dame, Michigan State, and, yes, Ohio State at home.

If not this year … when?

Will Adrian Martinez return Nebraska to glory?

Martinez's Nebraska debut checked all the boxes.

The true freshman completed 75 percent of his passes. He ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns. With a 57-yard touchdown to JD Spielman, he gave Nebraska a 28-20 lead over Colorado - and hope for the future in what doubled as Scott Frost's first game as head coach.

Then, Martinez hurt his leg and Colorado came back to win 33-28, setting the wheels in motion for Nebraska to go 4-8.

The idea in Year 2, however, is that 12 games of a healthy Martinez will be enough for Nebraska to win the Big Ten West.

The wunderkind quarterback played increasingly well upon his return from injury, completing 64.6 percent of his passes for the year. Nebraska flashed its potential, beating Minnesota by 25 points and Michigan State by a field goal. Even the losses - by five to Ohio State, a field goal at Iowa - were signs of progress.

Linebacker Mohamed Barry (112 tackles) returns to lead a defense that has to be better after Nebraska allowed 31.3 points per game in 2018.

But the West is up for grabs. And no one has as much forward momentum as the Cornhuskers right now.

Could a surprise Heisman candidate emerge from the West?

When it comes to the College Football Playoff and the Big Ten, all eyes look toward the East. If the conference is going to snap a two-year playoff drought, Ohio State and Michigan appear to be the most capable of doing it.

But don't sleep on the West, or you'll miss some of the best playmakers in college football.

In addition to Martinez, who has some Heisman hype of his own, the division features a running back and receiver who stack up against anyone in the country.

Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor is doing things no college running back has done. The 5-foot-11 junior obliterated the record for rushing yards in a player's first two seasons, running for 4,171 as a freshman and sophomore. He enters his junior year 2,234 yards behind Donnel Pumphrey's career FBS record. It took Pumphrey four seasons to record that mark.

College football's leading returning rushers from last season

Taylor will need Wisconsin to improve on its 8-5 record from last season to stay in the Heisman race.

Likewise, Purdue receiver Rondale Moore will be in the discussion if the Boilermakers take a leap forward.

As a true freshman, Moore caught 114 passes for 1,258 yards and ran for another 213. He also returned kicks and punts.

He's now the face of Purdue's football renaissance under Jeff Brohm. If quarterback Elijah Sindelar can prove to be a competent replacement for David Blough, Moore might win the Biletnikoff.

What does Northwestern have in Hunter Johnson?

Pat Fitzgerald's team is among the most under-the-radar, intriguing programs to watch in 2019.

The Wildcats were 19-8 over the last two seasons and won the West Division in 2018. They're experienced enough on defense to be good, led by linebacker Paddy Fisher (229 tackles in 2017 and 2018 combined).

And they boast one of the most highly regarded quarterback recruits in recent history.

When Hunter Johnson signed with Clemson two years ago, he ranked as the No. 2 pro-style quarterback and No. 30 overall player in the 2017 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. In the pro-style list, he ranked ahead of Georgia's Fromm and Sean Clifford, the expected starter at Penn State this fall. On the overall list, he finished two spots ahead of Tua Tagovailoa.

While Tagovailoa and Fromm have played for a national championship, Johnson transferred from Clemson after his freshman year. The 6-foot-2, 216-pound quarterback from Brownsburg, Ind., sat out last season. He's now the frontrunner to replace Clayton Thorson at Northwestern.

The Wildcats' early schedule is brutal. Northwestern's first six games include Stanford, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Ohio State.

But if Johnson shows even a portion of what recruiting evaluators saw in him, it wouldn't be surprising to see Northwestern contend in the West again.

More in this series:

• 5 questions for the SEC
• 5 questions for the ACC
• 5 questions for the Big 12 (Aug. 1)
• 5 questions for the Pac-12 (Aug. 2)

Mark Cooper is theScore's NCAA writer. You can find him on Twitter @mark_cooperjr.