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Spring practice in the Big Ten is already underway for three teams, and by this time next week, no fewer than 10 of the conference's 14 teams will find themselves on the practice field.

The 2015 season may have seemed like it just ended, but programs are already getting started on the coming year. That makes today a great day for a Big Ten Q&A, as spring practice across the conference prepares to kickoff.

As always, you can send me your questions each week on Twitter @BenAxelrod.

This week, we'll tackle—not literally—the state of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, the Big Ten West division race, what Michigan State can expect in 2016 and the Buckeyes' new defensive coordinator.

Let's get started.

First of all, this isn't necessarily true.

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While ESPN.com's "way-too-early Top 25" ranks Michigan fourth and Ohio State 12th, SI.com's places the Buckeyes fourth and the Wolverines seventh. A larger search shows even more of a split opinion, with Ohio State and Michigan each generally being placed somewhere in the Top 10 in the completely unscientific and subjective polls.

But based on where Ohio State—and Michigan—have been in the past half-decade, it's easy to understand why even that feels like blasphemy for Buckeyes fans.

While the Buckeyes have put together a 50-4 record in the past four years, the Wolverines are celebrating a 10-3 season that would have been viewed as a massive failure in Columbus.

Yes, Ohio State returns just six combined starters on both sides of the ball, but Urban Meyer has seemingly recruited well enough for the Buckeyes to reload rather than rebuild.

The reality, however, is that Jim Harbaugh has changed everything.

Just like it's assumed that Meyer's recruits will step right in, it seems like a safe bet that the Wolverines will continue to progress in 2016.

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Considering that Michigan's 10-3 mark included an arguably flukey loss to Michigan State based on the way it went down, the Wolverines could conceivably close the gap on Ohio State in the coming year if the Buckeyes take even just the smallest of steps back.

The biggest question in Ann Arbor right now is who's going to play quarterback in the coming year, but if Harbaugh's track record has shown anything, it's that he's more than capable of getting the most out of his signal-callers.

At the moment, I think both teams are appropriately ranked, with each featuring no shortage of question marks and head coaches who deserve the benefit of the doubt.

As for who will actually be better this season, that remains to be seen. But right now, I'd have to give the edge to the Buckeyes based on a potentially difficult schedule for the Wolverines that includes road games in East Lansing and Columbus.

This is somewhat of a tricky question considering that Iowa returns so much talent from a team that went 12-0 in last year's regular season and was one win away from crashing the College Football Playoff.

According to SBNation's Bill Connelly, the Hawkeyes return 72 percent of their production from 2015—the third-highest return rate in the Big Ten.

And yet, there's just something I can't seem to trust about Iowa.

I don't know if it's that C.J. Beathard's numbers weren't as impressive as you'd expect from a 12-0 quarterback, the beating the Hawkeyes took in the Rose Bowl or the reality that Iowa just hasn't won at a high level on a consistent basis in recent history, but there's something that tells me Kirk Ferentz's squad won't be repeating in 2016.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawkeyes become one of the Big Ten's bigger disappointments this season based primarily on the suddenly lofty expectations in Iowa City.

So who wins the Big Ten West?

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As much as I'd love to go out on a limb and predict Nebraska after its 5-7 regular-season debut under Mike Riley—the Huskers return 78 percent of their total production—I just can't trust a team coming off a losing season that may have a mismatched quarterback in its offense.

Nebraska could very well be this year's Iowa, but what makes a team an "Iowa" is that nobody sees it coming.

The team that I'm ultimately rolling with is the one that's been the most consistent in the division and was closer to winning it a year ago than many people realize. Yes, Wisconsin loses a four-year starting quarterback in Joel Stave, but Bart Houston appears poised to fill in seamlessly, and a hopefully healthy Corey Clement could provide a big boost in the backfield.

The Badgers don't return a lot—just 44 percent of their production from a year ago—but I like what I saw from Paul Chryst in his first year in Madison.

More than anything, the Wisconsin program as a whole has been steady, and that might just be good enough to win a division that appears to be there for the taking.

Another interesting inquiry, considering that every year Michigan State seems poised to take a step back—yet the Spartans keep defiantly taking steps forward.

That rang especially true last year as Ohio State entered the season with unprecedented hype, while Michigan and Harbaugh possessed an unprecedented buzz, and yet it was Mark Dantonio's team that represented the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff.

While the Spartans deserved all of their accolades, here's the thing: They were actually closer to taking that seemingly inevitable step back a year ago than many people realize.

Think about it: If Blake O'Neill handles that punt or that ball doesn't bounce directly into Jalen Watts-Jackson's hands, Michigan State never beats the Wolverines and probably finds itself out of contention for the Big Ten East title by the time the final week of the regular season rolls around.

To a lesser degree, you could say the same about the Spartans' win over Ohio State, where their biggest advantage seemed to be the Buckeyes' lackluster play-calling.

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That's not to take anything away from the season Michigan State had—although it inevitably does—as sometimes luck is needed in such games. But the 38-0 beatdown Alabama laid on the Spartans in the College Football Playoff spoke volumes and was perhaps what was most indicative of where MSU stands in regard to college football's elite.

Take away Connor Cook, Shilique Calhoun, Jack Conklin, Jack Allen and Aaron Burbridge, and if the Spartans don't take a step back this year, maybe they never will.

I look at this as a rebuilding year in East Lansing, as it might take some time for Dantonio to figure out who his quarterback is—as was the case in 2013—but if there's one thing that bodes well for Michigan State this season, it's that this is the role it thrives in.

Have you seen the video of Greg Schiano playing tug of war with the players during their Valentine's Day Massacre workout?

I can't imagine they're all that excited to play for—and continue to work out with—the guy.

In all seriousness, I think that Schiano's hiring was one of the more underrated moves in all of the Big Ten this offseason. In Chris Ash, the Buckeyes lost arguably the best defensive coordinator in the country, but they replaced him with an assistant who could very well be a head coach of a top-level program as soon as next season.

Schiano isn't without his baggage, much of which stems from his failed stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Meyer vouched for the guy long before him ever winding up in Columbus seemed like a real possibility.

Given Meyer's track record with assistants, that should go a long way.

The Buckeyes don't kick off spring practice until next week, but I'm interested to see the dynamic between not only Schiano and Meyer but Schiano and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell. Will Schiano be able to take a backseat after spending the past decade-plus as a head coach?

And just what sort of impact will he have on an OSU defense that's been one of the nation's best for the past two years?

At the very least, Schiano's resume speaks for itself, dating back to him completing the nearly impossible task of making Rutgers nationally relevant.

For all the highly touted prospects that Meyer has lured since arriving in Columbus, one could argue that landing Schiano as his defensive coordinator was his most impressive recruiting job yet.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.