Spartans Wire Big Ten Football Preseason Media Poll, Awards
Annually, Cleveland.com will compile an official media poll and preseason awards that is released just ahead of the Big Ten Football Media Days. Us three at Spartans Wire are unfortunately not included in that media poll, but, who says we can't let our voices be heard? So with that being said, we are releasing our own preseason poll and awards this year.
See where we have the Spartans landing and who we envision having the most impactful seasons on the field below:
Our Media Poll
Here is our preseason rankings for all 18 teams in the Big Ten:
Ranking / Team
Points
1. Ohio State
54 (3)
2. Oregon
48
3. Penn State
47
4. Nebraska
44
5. USC
40
6. Illinois
39
7. Michigan
35
8. Michigan State
32
9. Iowa
30
10. Indiana
27
11. Washington
25
12. Wisconsin
23
13. Minnesota
19
14. UCLA
16
15. Rutgers
14
16. Northwestern
10
17. Maryland
6
18. Purdue
4
***Voting system is based on highest ranked team receiving 18 points, second-highest ranked team receiving 17 points and following that sequence to the last-place team receiving one point
Thoughts on Michigan State
To no surprise, the group of writers who closely follow Michigan State is higher on the Spartans than the national and regional media. Michigan State came in at No. 8 in our rankings, with none of us having the Spartans lower than No. 9 in our Big Ten rankings.
It'll be interesting to see next week where the Spartans land in the official Big Ten media poll but I can almost assure you it won't be in the upper half of the league like us. With that being said, the Spartans' struggles over the past few seasons will heavily play a role in that official media poll, where as our poll is forecasting Michigan State to take a notable positive step this upcoming fall.
Number of College Football Playoff teams from Big Ten
Here is our preseason picks for number of teams to reach the College Football Playoff this year:
Number of Teams
Votes
4
2
3
1
2
0
1
0
0
0
Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year
Here is our preseason picks for Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year:
Player
Votes
Drew Allar (Penn State, QB)
1
Julian Sayin (Ohio State, QB)
1
Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State, WR)
1
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
Here is our preseason picks for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year:
Player
Votes
Caleb Downs (Ohio State, S)
2
Dani Dennis-Sutton (Penn State, DE)
1
Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Here is our preseason picks for Big Ten Freshman of the Year:
Player
Votes
Bryce Underwood (Michigan, QB)
1
Dakorien Moore (Oregon, WR)
1
Devin Sanchez (Ohio State, CB)
1
Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Spartans Wire Big Ten Football Preseason Media Poll, Awards
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