On Wednesday, we shared this look at the Big Ten Eastern Division teams after the conclusion of spring practice.

Today, we are back with a gander at the Big Ten Western Division. In 2017, Wisconsin blew away the field in the Big Ten West. The Badgers were a perfect 9-0 in Big Ten play and took a 12-0 record into the Big Ten championship game. Ohio State won that match-up 27-21, but Wisconsin rebounded to defeat Miami (Fla.) 34-24 on the Hurricanes’ home field at the Orange Bowl to finish 13-1.

Wisconsin won the West by two full games over Northwestern, which ended up 7-2 in the conference. No other West team even ended up above .500 in conference play.

In fact, taking out Wisconsin’s 3-0 record in crossover games against the Big Ten East, the West had a dismal 5-13 record (.278) against the East.

Remarkably, Iowa dropped tight crossover games to Eastern Division front runners Penn State (21-19 at home) and Michigan State (17-10 on the road) before springing the upset of the year with its 55-24 pasting of then-No. 6 Ohio State in Iowa City. That shows there can be some bark in some of these Western Division teams on any given Saturday (or Friday night).

Hey, here’s a stat: Teams in the Big Ten West combined for a perfect 4-0 record in bowl games after last season.

And, certainly, Wisconsin has to be taken seriously by everybody. The Badgers are the prohibitive favorite to repeat as the Western Division champions. In preseason picks by Athlon’s and Street & Smith’s and also by Lindy’s, Wisconsin was a unanimous pick to win the Big Ten West and finish in the top 10. Athlon’s had UW ninth, Street & Smith’s placed the Badgers sixth and Lindy’s ranked Wisconsin fifth.

The interesting thing is none of those magazines had another Big Ten West team in their preseason top 25. Perhaps one of these other West teams can rise up and give Wisconsin a run for its money.

There is one new coach among the Big Ten’s 14 schools and he is at Nebraska, where alum Scott Frost is coming home to try and resurrect the proud ‘Huskers program.

The Big Ten championship game is set for Sat., Dec. 1, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The final slide in this sequence will have a look at when and where Big Ten teams could end up in the postseason.

With spring football over, we have enlisted the help of 247Sports staff members at each of the Big Ten schools to share their view on the program they cover. The 2018 season is now just three months away.

Below is our look at the Big Ten Western Division with the teams listed in order of their 2017 finish. (Note: Returning starters listed from Big Ten prospectus; Some schools listed split-time starters; All-Big Ten picks noted as B1G 1, B1G 2 and B1G 3 in parentheses for first-, second- and third-team picks respectively.)