Big Ten Football: Projecting The West Division

3. Northwestern

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

While Kain Colter takes to podiums, Trevor Siemien and Veneric Mark return. To make matters worse for defensive coordinators, Treyvon Green saw plenty of time following Mark’s injury.

This means that defenders better have their assignments down or the Wildcats can slice and dice schemes put in their path. Senior receivers Christian Jones and Tony Jones also return. In short: This is a potent offense.

On defense, nine starters return including linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo and safety Ibraheim Campbell who garnered honorable mention from Big Ten media.

Remember when I talked about technicalities ruling the West? Here we go: Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan all come to Evanston. I see Northwestern beating the Wolverines, but the potential for taking down Nebraska is there as well.

That means with a win over Iowa, they hold the head-to-head tie-breaker despite an identical conference record. I’ll even go nuts and say they stay healthy enough to beat Notre Dame on the road.

The biggest X-factor is those injuries. If this team can stay healthy, no one is safe. This isn’t a team of spoilers. This could be a team that threatens for the division if the cards fall properly.

Final Record: 8-4 (5-3)