Clemson or Alabama has won the National Championship each of the last four years. It’s very possible that either of those programs will take home the title again this season, but there seems to be a lot more contenders than last year.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit says there are seven teams who “legitimately have a case” to be in the top four after Week 7. Any of those seven teams could win the national title, and while appearing on SportsCenter on Tuesday night, Herbstreit said there was relatively no separation between them.

Three of those seven teams Herbstreit is talking about are from the B1G — Ohio State, who Herbstreit called the most dominant team in the nation, Wisconsin and Penn State.

Of course, this will play itself out, as the B1G teams and two SEC teams in Herbstreit’s Top 7, Alabama and LSU, will square off and eliminate each other. But for a college football fan, especially one who follows the Big Ten, it has to be exciting that there are more national contenders than simply Clemson and Alabama.