In any future outlook of college football teams, you know Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State will represent the Big Ten. But Nebraska isn't usually a lock to be a standard-bearer for the conference when you look into a crystal ball.

Our eight-person panel of CFB experts graded teams on five criteria, each given different weights, to determine the three-year outlook of college football’s top teams. They used that data to compile the 2016 College Football Future Power Rankings (Insider).

• Ohio State Buckeyes: No team ranked higher in coaching or recruiting and the team is top-5 in current talent, title path and foundation. What's not to like about the foreseeable future in Columbus? OSU is No. 2 in the rankings overall.

• Michigan Wolverines: The only thing holding the Wolverines back is the current talent, but that's relative to other elite programs. The Wolverines are No. 5 overall in future outlook.

• Michigan State Spartans: Current talent and recruiting aren't strengths of the program but it makes up for it and then some with excellent coaching. But why exactly is Sparty five spots behind Michigan in the rankings?

• Nebraska Cornhuskers: Recruiting and, by proxy, current talent won't be something the Cornhuskers will do particularly well at perennially because of location. That doesn't mean the team is destined for struggles. Our experts rank them No. 25 in three-year outlook.