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On the eve of Big Ten media days, we always get a snapshot of expectations within the conference in the eyes of the media.
On Monday morning, Cleveland.com released its annual media poll predicting the order of finish and projected winner in the upcoming season. This year, Ohio State wasn’t considered the favorite — Penn State received those honors for the first time in the poll’s history. Michigan came in fifth, behind the Nittany Lions, Buckeyes, Oregon, and Illinois, but did receive one first-place vote.
No. 1 Penn State (11 first-place votes), 435 points, 1.60 average rank
No. 2 Ohio State (10), 431 points, 1.76
No. 3 Oregon (2), 405 points, 2.80
No. 4 Illinois, 353 points, 4.88
No. 5 Michigan (1), 346 points, 5.16
No. 6 Indiana, 305 points, 6.80
No. 7 Iowa, 287 points, 7.52
No. 8 Nebraska, 277 points, 7.92
No. 9 USC, 269 points, 8.24
No. 10 Washington, 216 points, 10.36
No. 11 Minnesota, 192 points, 11.32
No. 12 Wisconsin, 159 points, 12.60
No. 13 Michigan State, 135 points, 13.60
No. 13 Rutgers, 135 points, 13.60
No. 15 UCLA, 134 points, 13.64
No. 16 Maryland, 91 points, 15.36
No. 17 Northwestern, 65 points, 16.40
No. 18 Purdue, 39 points, 17.44
The Wolverines have been picked to win the conference three times, but only won once (2023). The other two times that Michigan won and wasn’t picked, Ohio State was the choice (2021, 2022).
This is the 15th iteration of the poll and the correct winner has been selected only four times since its inception in 2011.
It should be noted that Michigan only plays one team ranked ahead of it, OSU, which comes in the final game of the regular season.
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