Teams can't lose during spring practice, so the Big Ten Conference remains atop the college football world, riding Ohio State's run to the national championship.

Ohio State looks poised to challenge for a repeat title, with nine starters back on offense and seven on defense, a list that includes running back Ezekiel Elliott and defensive end Joey Bosa. The Buckeyes still boast three star quarterbacks as well in Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller.

The Buckeyes are part of a re-energized Big Ten, a conference feeding off the hires of three new coaches — Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, Mike Riley at Nebraska and Paul Chryst at Wisconsin.

"That's a pretty good lineup right there," said the Gophers' Jerry Kill, the reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year. He added that the overall caliber of coaches in the conference "is unbelievable to me."

The Big Ten has reshaped its national perception since last September, when its teams were 1-10 against other Power Five conference schools. Ohio State beat Alabama and Oregon to win the College Football Playoff. Michigan State knocked off Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. Wisconsin topped Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

According to SBNation.com, the Big Ten has produced four of the nation's six biggest spring game crowds. Wisconsin, Michigan State and Iowa will hold their spring games Saturday.

"I think it's a 180-degree turn from the conversations that were going on a year ago at this time about the conference," said James Franklin, whose Penn State squad edged Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Franklin has Penn State right behind Ohio State in the Class of 2016 recruiting rankings, with five four-star recruits already committed. With what Franklin is doing to rebuild that program, and what Harbaugh is expected to do at Michigan, the Big Ten East looks like it won't always be a two-team race between Ohio State and Michigan State.

"To me it's going to be the toughest division in all of college football," said Maryland's Randy Edsall, whose team finished third in the East last year.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said the Big Ten East looks like it'll be every bit as competitive moving forward as the SEC East was when he was at Florida. He noted that the SEC enjoyed a seven-year championship run starting with Florida in 2006 and ending with Alabama in 2013.

"I'm a believer that there's only one way to eliminate perception, and that's to get better," Meyer said. "This has been a one-year cycle. So there's a lot of pressure on the Big Ten to keep it rolling."