Here’s some news that’s about as shocking as saying “today the sun rose in the east.”:
Michigan State has been picked to finish first in the Big Ten this season and Cassius Winston is the conference’s preseason Player of the Year, both voted on by the Big Ten media.
The Big Ten does not do “official” preseason media awards, so The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn and the Columbus Dispatch’s Adam Jardy have taken it upon themselves to compile votes from 28 of the conference’s reporters.
(We thank them for doing this!)
Michigan State received 27 of a possible 28 first-place votes with Maryland getting a lone selection. The Terps are picked to finish in second place, with Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan rounding out the top five.
Winston received 27 of 28 first-place votes for player of the year, with Maryland’s Jalen Smith notching the only other vote.
Ohio State’s DJ Carton was selected as Freshman of the Year with 15 votes. Michigan State’s Rocket Watts received one vote in that category.
As for the All-Conference team, Winston was the only unanimous selection and the only Spartan on the first team. Lamar Stevens (Penn State), Ayo Dosunmu (Illinois), Anthony Cowan (Maryland) and Kaleb Wesson (Ohio State) were all selected to the team. Xavier Tillman received two first-team votes, while Aaron Henry received one.
Michigan State opens their season October 29 with an exhibition game against Albion.
