Divisions aren't as horrible as they appear at first. MSU has basically reached the peak heights their program is capable of. Penn State will never be Penn State again. Rutgers and Maryland are both atrocious. It's going to be MSU/Mich/OSU in the East for like 90% of the forseeable future.
Meanwhile we have it pretty good. The reason that I say we have it pretty good is 1) we are *the team* to beat in our division (although you could make a case for Wisconsin I suppose) and 2) our schedule is a lot more appealing from a rivalry (we get the Badgers every year!) and a travel standpoint.
The presence of 4 "big names" in the East make their division look stronger than it really is. While it is definitely stronger than the West, it isn't by any huge margin. After MSU/OSU/Mich, the drop-off is huge. The West is stronger at the middle and bottom, which does even the playing field quite a bit. Most of the teams in our division are pretty far down from what they could be. Nebraska hasn't quite gotten back to where we should be. Iowa is obviously slumping pretty hard but should be an 8-win team every year if Kirk can remember how to coach football. Wisconsin is bordering on powerhouse. Minnesota has a lot going for them, they just need to get rid of seizure crazy abusive madman Kill. Pat Fitzgerald has Northwestern in a solid 8-9 wins a year state.
