Where Michigan Football Lands In Preseason Big Ten Media Poll
Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis begins on Wednesday, so the annual preseason Big Ten media poll, via Cleveland.com, was released on Tuesday morning -- just ahead of media days.
For the first time since 2019, Ohio State is not projected to win the Big Ten. But for the first time since '19 the Michigan Wolverines are.
In the 13th-annual preseason poll, there were 37 voters throughout the conference and 27 of them voted for Michigan to win the Big Ten. The Buckeyes received eight first-place votes and Penn State had the other two.
The voters consist of beat writers from all 14 Big Ten schools and national writers who cover the entire college football landscape.
Each writer was asked to vote 1-7 in both divisions, with first-place votes worth seven points, second-place votes worth six, and so on.
Projected finish:
Big Ten East:
1 Michigan (27 first-place votes) 248
2 Ohio State (8) 226
3 Penn State (2) 192
4 Maryland 143
5 Michigan State 105
6 Rutgers 74
7 Indiana 48
Big Ten West:
1 Wisconsin (20 first-place votes) 233
2 Iowa (16) 232
3 Minnesota (1) 176
4 Illinois 152
5 Nebraska 116
6 Purdue 89
7 Northwestern 38
The most popular Big Ten championship prediction was Michigan over Wisconsin, which received 15 votes. In second, with 11 votes, was Michigan over Iowa.
After winning back-to-back conference titles, it was hard for the voters to not vote for Michigan as the preseason favorite. The Wolverines return over 80% of production from a year ago and Michigan returns its starting quarterback from a season ago. Both Ohio State and Penn State are breaking in a new quarterback, and while both should work out, you never truly know until game action begins.
