When the College Football Playoff selection committee pores over data points and debates the merits of each at-large hopeful in early December, the results of Week 2 are bound to loom large.In the Big Ten, eight members will play power-conference opponents in the weekend ahead. Each game carries its own degree of importance, but all could impact the 12-team CFP. No. 1 Ohio State’s trip to No. 5 Texas could determine the CFP’s top seed. No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 16 Michigan could not only determine Playoff access but also positioning. No. 2 Oregon at Oklahoma State and Iowa State at No. 22 Iowa feature point spreads beyond two touchdowns, and the style points involved in wins might matter in evaluations. Illinois hosts defending ACC champion Duke, and Mississippi State travels to Minnesota, two games that will further the conference depth discourse. There’s also Wake Forest at Purdue and Rutgers at Boston College.A successful weekend would give the Big Ten equity in CFP discussions. Losses — especially in the matchups of two ranked teams — can affect everyone in the league. The importance of this weekend cannot be understated for CFP positioning and perhaps what it means for the last at-large berth. Even coaches who aren’t participating in these games understand their consequences.“I want to play the SEC versus the Big Ten Week 1, 2 or 3 of the season every single year,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said this summer. “I want to play the Big 12 Week 1 or 2 or 3, and I want to play the ACC. We need to end all the guesswork.”Should Michigan have gotten an extra second?Chris VanniniThe Big Ten enters this week largely unscathed after Week 1, with 15 of its teams winning in regulation, another needing assistance from clock operators and two falling considerably short. Four teams scored shutouts, nine won by at least 25 points, and 13 outpaced their opponents by two or more touchdowns. But the two ranked Big Ten squads that won by a touchdown or less face additional scrutiny approaching matchups with power-conference teams from the state of Oklahoma this weekend.No team will deal with more on-field questions nationally this week than Michigan. Western Michigan thoroughly dominated the Wolverines, rolling up 40 minutes and 8 seconds in time of possession and converting 8 of 18 third-down opportunities. The Broncos seemed to have pulled off a monumental upset as a 27.5-point underdog when Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood’s Hail Mary pass sailed out of the end zone with no time remaining. However, the clock on NBC was not synced with the official clock run by Big Ten officials, which showed one second left. Underwood then launched a 47-yard pass to the end zone, which was snagged by Michigan receiver JJ Buchanan to steal a 13-12 victory.The Wolverines (1-0) play host to the Sooners, who rolled over UTEP 51-0 last week. Oklahoma won last year’s game in Norman 24-13 on its way to a CFP berth. Underwood, then a true freshman, struggled in that meeting, and his inconsistent play against Western Michigan (12-of-22 passing) has led to questions about his job status.“He’s our QB right now, and it’s not something that’s infinite,” said Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham, who survived his debut after 21 seasons at Utah. “I mean, at some point, we’ve got to turn a corner, and we’ve got to see improvement.”In Oklahoma, Michigan faces one of the nation’s best defenses. The Sooners finished sixth in overall defense last year and gave up only 198 yards in their opener.No. 2 Oregon had all it could handle against Boise State in a 34-27 win. Although the Ducks were favored by 24.5 points, their tight history with the Broncos suggested the game could be competitive, which it was. Boise State led by 10 points late in the second quarter, and the teams were tied until midway through the fourth quarter when quarterback Dante Moore connected with receiver Dakorien Moore for a 62-yard touchdown.At surface level, the Ducks should face an easier time with the Cowboys on the road. Oregon won last year’s matchup 69-3, and Oklahoma State dropped its opener at Tulsa 24-10. But Oregon coach Dan Lanning wants to see significant improvement, especially on defense, which he said after the game was “not to our standard.” Those points will be reinforced this week.“There’s a lot we can do a lot better,” Lanning said Saturday. “In a lot of ways, we won the game with total yards and some situations, but we didn’t really win the critical situations.”Texas and Ohio State meet for the third consecutive season in a top-10 showdown. Last year, the No. 2 Buckeyes held off No. 1 Longhorns 14-7 in Columbus. This year, the game heads to Austin.In 2024, the teams faced off in a CFP semifinal, which the Buckeyes won 28-14 on their way to the championship. After holding off Texas in last year’s season opener, Ohio State vaulted to No. 1, where it stayed until a loss to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game. Texas finished the regular season 9-3 and just three spots outside the CFP. A flipped result and both could have made the CFP last year.“I don’t think I need to spend much time and energy on what this game means,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We’ve got an opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country, a team we’ve had two battles with the last two years, and we know what that takes. I’m not consumed with what the end result might be four months down the road. We’ve got other games to go play that can contribute one way or the other to our success that we have in the season.”Neither team was seriously challenged in Week 1; Ohio State beat Ball State 56-3, and Texas rolled Texas State 59-7.The Cy-Hawk rivalry renews this weekend in Iowa City, with the Hawkeyes seeking their first home victory since 2018. The Cyclones won their last two matchups at Kinnick Stadium by a combined four points, and the teams didn’t play in 2020 during the pandemic. Iowa State’s 13-10 win last year in Ames damaged Iowa’s CFP opportunities, which would otherwise have been alive into mid-November.It has a different vibe this year without Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, who left for Penn State. New coach Jimmy Rogers stirred up the rivalry during last year’s Iowa-Iowa State men’s basketball game when he took the microphone and said, “Let’s cheer on coach Otz (T.J. Otzelberger) and beat the f—ing Hawks.”Last year, Illinois pounded Duke 45-19, which is viewed more significantly in retrospect, considering both programs finished with nine wins. This matchup has the potential to not only aid the winner in the CFP but also the winning team’s league in CFP discussions. The Mississippi State-Minnesota and perhaps Wake Forest-Purdue games could have a similar impact.On Friday, Rutgers travels to Boston College in a battle to decide the worst power conference team. Cincinnati blew out Boston College 34-15, and Rutgers’ 37-21 loss to UMass was one of the worst in Big Ten history. UMass had lost 23 consecutive games to FBS competition, yet outrushed Rutgers 200-30 and wasn’t seriously challenged.