A LAZY ASS PREDICTS THE 2016 BIG TEN WEST STANDINGS

I did all of 10 minutes of research for these predictions, so let's do this:

1. WISCONSIN. These guys have been a college football powerhouse for something like 10 years now. There's a coaching change on the defensive side with Dave Aranda leaving for LSU but they hired a new coach and what's his name will still be good. They have a new quarterback and he'll be good too but most importantly, they return Corey Clement at running back and running is Wisconsin's thing. They'll run away with the division title.

2. NEBRASKA. Nebraska suffered a lot of bad luck last year and that's bound to turn. Just because you can't have bad luck all the time, right? Right? The Huskers will have to reload both the offensive and defensive line but they do return quarterback Tommy Armstrong and his career 36 INTs. Mike Riley has been coaching for a really long time and he's had one career 10-win season (that includes three years in the NFL). He's due for another.

3. IOWA. Iowa won't finish 12-0 again because they just can't. 2015 was the first time in school history so it'll probably never happen again. They return their QB, C.J. Beathard and Jim Thorpe Award winner Desmond King but they don't return the 2015 'mojo" or whatever it was that won them the West. Iowa lucked out against Wisconsin last year and do get them in Kinnick. They stomped Nebraska at Nebraska but Tommy Armstrong will surely be better than that day's poor performance. Iowa is destined to regress to the middle of the pack after a Cinderella season last year.

4. NORTHWESTERN. The Cats are experienced on both offense and defense returning QB Clayton Thurston, RB Justin Jackson and star linebacker Anthony Walker. They also return offensive coordinator Mike McCall who managed one of the worst scoring offenses in the nation. The 'Cats could win the division but there's no way their fan base would share this post on Facebook as many times as Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa fans.

5A. ILLINOIS. Lovie Smith takes over at the helm for the Illini and has 9th year senior Wes Lunt to lead the offense. Gone is a whole lot of the defensive side ball and Lovie has his work cut out for him. Whether he keeps the spread offense will determine the success of the 2016 season. A pro-style offense could help rest the rebuilding D and get at least two or three wins in conference

5B. MINNESOTA. Mitch Leidner is a potential first round draft pick per Todd McShay who miraculously wasn't fired after sending that article to his editor. The Gopher program is still in transition and Tracey Claeys has a chance to put his mark on this program going forward. The 2015 Gophers struggled on offense and Claeys cleaned house. With seven returning starters including quarterback, the Gophers could go bowling again but they finished here last year, so.

7. PURDUE. They always finish last so they're last again. Help is on the way with new facilities, but that won't help for the 2016 season. The Boilers were bad in all phases of the game last year and expect more of the same. They did beat Nebraksa but that was surely due to bad luck and injuries on the Husker side.