2022 Big Ten Preseason Media Poll: Predicted order of finish revealed

The Big Ten is gearing up for a season that looks to be tremendously entertaining, and predictions for the conference are running rampant.

There’s a bevy of contenders that the conference boasts for the 2022 season, but some usual suspects remain near the top of predictions. With preparation for the season readying to ramp up, Cleveland.com released their 12th annual Preseason Big Ten Poll, where 36 votes predict who will stand atop the conference’s respective divisions.

For context, Cleveland.com picked up the responsibility of handling the Big Ten poll when the conference decided to drop it over a decade ago. Other conferences have released their preseason polls over the last couple of weeks, as the SEC and Big 12 each handled their’s as recently as last week.

Now, it’s time for the Big Ten. According to Cleveland.com, each voter was asked to rank each team 1-7 within their respective divisions, with first-place votes worth seven points, second-place votes worth six and so on and so forth.

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Here’s the 2022 Preseason Big Ten Poll, per Cleveland.com.

Preseason Big Ten Poll:

Big Ten West

1. Wisconsin Badgers (31 first-place votes)
2. Iowa Hawkeyes (3)
3. Minnesota Golden Gophers (2)
4. Purdue Boilermakers
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers
6. Illinois Fighting Illini
7. Northwestern Wildcats

Big Ten East

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (36)
2. Michigan Wolverines
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
4. Michigan State Spartans
5. Maryland Terrapins
6. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
7. Indiana Hoosiers

As you can see, the Wisconsin Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes are the overwhelming favorites to reach the Big Ten Championship Game.

First, Wisconsin is coming off a season where they suffered some disappointing losses, but they ended strong with a victory over Arizona State in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. Evidently, most voters believe the Badgers will have a successful rebound campaign next season.

As for Ohio State, Michigan handed them a loss and kept them out of the Big Ten Championship — and College Football Playoff — last season. Now, star quarterback C.J. Stroud is back to remind the college football world of his prowess, and many believe the Buckeyes offense could be legendary in 2022. Evidently, Cleveland.com believes so as well — Ohio State captured all 36 first-place votes from Cleveland.com voters.

Nevertheless, last season proved the Big Ten can be as unpredictable as any conference in the nation. Time will tell if the voters have their picks correct, or if a team like Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines can upset the apple cart once again in 2022.