The love for That Team Up North continues, and this time it’s from some beat writers right in the heartland. The Big Ten used to provide an annual poll for writers to pick the preseason favorite in the conference but did away with it back in 2010. Cleveland.com then picked it up and currently uses 34 writers to conduct its own.
The results of that poll were shared Wednesday and it fit a similar pattern.
While the West division looks to be wide open with five teams receiving first place votes (Nebraska barely edged Iowa), it came down to a tight race between Ohio State and Michigan in the East. And … the Wolverines took the narrow preseason expectation victory with 222 points to the Buckeyes’ 214. TTUN received 20 first place votes to OSU’s 14.
There’s good news on the back-end though. The Cleveland.com poll has only been right two out of the eight years, though was spot on with the Buckeyes the last two seasons.
Big Ten football preseason poll from @clevelanddotcom: Michigan predicted to win the Big Ten in a vote of 34 writers from around the conference. Ohio State’s run as the preseason favorite ends. Nebraska picked win the West. https://t.co/B42Az2LskW
— Doug Lesmerises (@DougLesmerises) July 17, 2019
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Here’s how all the voting shook out:
BIG TEN EAST
1. Michigan, 222 points (20 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State, 214 points (14)
3. Michigan State, 156 points
4. Penn State, 154 points
5. Indiana, 86.5 points
6. Maryland, 82.5 points
7. Rutgers, 37 points
BIG TEN WEST
1. Nebraska, 198 points (14 first-place votes)
2. Iowa, 194.5 points (14)
3. Wisconsin, 172.5 points (4)
4. Northwestern, 142.5 points (1)
5. Purdue, 110.5 points
6. Minnesota, 100 points (1)
7. Illinois, 34 points
