Ohio State Picked Behind Michigan In Preseason Big Ten Media Poll

After consecutive losses to Michigan, Ohio State was picked to finished second in the conference behind the Wolverines, according to a preseason Big Ten football poll conducted by Cleveland.com.

This is the first time the Buckeyes were not chosen to win the conference since 2019, though Ohio State was chosen to win the Big Ten in each of the last two years before suffering losses to Michigan. The poll included 37 voters, with media representatives from every team in the conference.

This year, Michigan was selected as the favorite in the East Division with 27 first-place votes, followed by the Buckeyes with eight first-place votes and Penn State with a pair of first-place votes. The division was rounded out by Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers and Indiana.

Ranking	Team	Points (First-Place Votes)
No. 1	Michigan	248 (27)
No. 2	Ohio State	226 (8)
No. 3	Penn State	192 (2)
No. 4	Maryland	143
No. 5	Michigan State	105
No. 6	Rutgers	74
No. 7	Indiana	48

In the West Division, Wisconsin earned 20 first-place votes with Iowa garnering 16 and Minnesota receiving a lone first-place vote. Following those teams were Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue and Northwestern, the latter of which recently fired head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Ranking	Team	Points (First-Place Votes)
No. 1	Wisconsin	233 (20)
No. 2	Iowa	232 (16)
No. 3	Minnesota	176 (1)
No. 4	Illinois	152
No. 5	Nebraska	116
No. 6	Purdue	89
No. 7	Northwestern	38

In the Big Ten Championship Game, most voters predicted that Michigan would defeat Wisconsin (15 votes), with Michigan over Iowa (11 votes) viewed as another likely outcomes.

Eight voters saw Ohio State winning in the title game, with four selecting the Buckeyes to win over Iowa and another four picking Ohio State over Wisconsin. Other outcomes voted on included Michigan over Minnesota, Penn State over Iowa and Penn State over Wisconsin, all with one vote each.