The media members in Big Ten country are not particularly high on Michigan State football entering the 2021 season.
Cleveland.com annually puts out a preseason Big Ten media poll, and this year the Spartans were pegged to finish towards the bottom of the league. Michigan State was picked to finish dead last in the East Division and second to last in the entire league — only ahead of Illinois.
Here’s how the East was picked to finish:
1. Ohio State (34 first-place votes) – 238
2. Penn State – 192
3. Indiana – 169
4. Michigan – 144
5. Maryland – 79
6. Rutgers – 77.5
7. Michigan State – 52.5
For context, first-place votes are worth seven points, second place is worth six points, and so on. So what’s most glaring to me about this poll is how big of a gap in the voting point totals from Rutgers at No. 6 to the Spartans at No. 7. This would suggest that many of the 34 who voted have the Spartans last in the division.
Click on the tweet below to see the entire voting results:
Here's https://t.co/9u0lSG0V1e's preseason B1G media poll. #Buckeyes the overwhelming favorite, and I voted for #Iowa again to win the West (one of these years, I'll be right). https://t.co/TUGXNg58S9
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 21, 2021
