Sean Merriman, BTN.com web editor, July 22, 2016
Cleveland.com released its sixth annual Big Ten preseason football poll Friday, and Ohio State was chosen as the Big Ten favorites in 2016.
In a survey of 39 writers who cover Big Ten football, 27 predicted Ohio State as the Big Ten champ.
Michigan received 11 votes, while Iowa, the favorite to win the West Division, received just one vote to win the Big Ten.
Since 2011, when the Big Ten stopped publishing official preseason picks from journalists, cleveland.com has conducted the most official preseason Big Ten poll.
What to make of this poll? We figured Ohio State would be the favorite heading into the 2016 Big Ten season, despite losing 16 starters as part of this past NFL Draft.
Michigan is picked to finish second in the Big Ten East, while Michigan State is tabbed third. The Spartans won the Big Ten last year, beating both the Buckeyes and Wolverines, before closing out Iowa in the 2015 Big Ten Championship game. Yet, Mark Dantonio's team isn't even picked to finish in the top two of their own division.
Coming off a 2015 West Division championship, Iowa is the heavy favorite in the West, which isn't all that surprising. Nebraska received two first place votes in the West, while Wisconsin only received one first-place vote.
Here are the complete results of the 2016 Big Ten preseason media poll.
EAST
1. Ohio State 260.5 (31)
2. Michigan 241 (14)
3. Michigan State 195.5 (1)
4. Penn State 155.5
5. Indiana 110
6. Maryland 81.5
7. Rutgers 52
WEST
1. Iowa 265 (33)
2. Nebraska 206 (3)
3. Wisconsin 194.5 (2)
4. Northwestern 171.5 (1)
5. Minnesota 132 (1)
6. Illinois 76.5
7. Purdue 46.5
Big Ten Championship
Ohio State over Iowa (24)
Michigan over Iowa (6)
Michigan over Wisconsin (2)
Michigan over Nebraska (2)
Ohio State over Minnesota (1)
Ohio State over Wisconsin (1)
Ohio State over Nebraska (1)
Michigan over Northwestern (1)
Iowa over Ohio State (1)
Big Ten Champion
Ohio State (27)
Michigan (11)
Iowa (1)