Buckeyes picked to win Big Ten in preseason media poll
COLUMBUS — Ohio State hasn’t been at the top of the Big Ten in three seasons; rival Michigan has won the last three conference titles.
But the media believes this is finally the year the Buckeyes will get back on top of the league. Yes, it’s preseason poll season, and Cleveland.com‘s annual preseason media poll of the Big Ten standings were released Monday ahead of Big Ten Media Days this week in Indianapolis.
Ohio State is at the top, receiving 21 of the 27 first-place votes. Oregon received the other six votes and is second in the preseason poll. The top five is rounded out by Penn State, Michigan and Iowa.
Big Ten newcomers are Oregon (No. 2), USC (No. 6), Washington (No. 10) and UCLA (No. 15).
Ohio State will face each of the other four teams in the top five this season, making this one of the toughest conference schedules the Big Ten could possibly throw at the Buckeyes.
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But the media isn’t deterred by the tough slate the Buckeyes will face; they still see Ohio State winning the league, even as they must travel to Oregon and Penn State to do so.
The full Big Ten preseason media poll can be found below. First-place votes are in parenthesis.
No. 1 Ohio State (21)
No. 2 Oregon (6)
No. 3 Penn State
No. 4 Michigan
No. 5 Iowa
No. 6 USC
No. 7 Wisconsin
No. 8 Nebraska
No. 9 Rutgers
No. 10 Washington
No. 11 Maryland
No. 12 Minnesota
No. 13 Illinois
No. 14 Northwestern
No. 15 UCLA
No. 16 Michigan State
No. 17 Indiana
No. 18 Purdue
Lettermen Row will be on-site in Indianapolis for full coverage of Big Ten Media Days this week.
Will ‘natty or bust’ mantra make its way to Indianapolis with Ohio State?
Ohio State has the same expectations every fall. The Buckeyes either beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and win the national title OR they fall short of their goals. They clearly state those goals every year. But they’re rarely ever putting it out publicly the way they have been this season. It started with Burke saying they were in ‘natty or bust’ mode this spring. Others, including projected starting quarterback Will Howard, have echoed that since then.
Has the tone shifted? Now that Ohio State is set to actually get to work on bringing a national title to Columbus for the first time in a decade, tracking the tone in the Buckeyes will be interesting. Does ‘natty or bust’ continue, or will the Buckeyes tone that down and get to work? It’s one of the storylines we’re tracking as we head to Indianapolis.
