Color me convinced the Big Ten will end its College Football Playoff drought this season.

Whether just or unfair, one of the nation's most competitive conferences has been excluded from the final four consecutive years, a testament to the selection committee's respect for the SEC and Big 12's comprehensive strength from top to bottom.

That changes this fall with the Big Ten being more than a two-team race for league supremacy behind Ohio State and Michigan at the top. As many as five Big Ten teams could be ranked in the preseason Top 25 next month, including Nebraska — everyone's favorite mid-summer darling ahead of Scott Frost's second campaign.

At every program, there are 'X-Factors' whose play goes a long way in determining how the season shakes out, potentially transforming a season from good to great.

Here's a player — or position group — at each Big Ten school who could make a major difference this fall: