** 2023 Previews: "Unofficial" Big Ten Media Pre-Season Poll **

Saunders

Saunders

Well-known member
For the first time in four years, Ohio State football is not the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten Conference. Michigan earned a comfortable margin as the projected conference champion in the 13th annual cleveland.com Preseason Big Ten Football Poll. Of the 37 voters from across the league, 27 picked the Wolverines to win it all, compared to eight for Ohio State. A third East Division team — Penn State — took the other two. Every voter followed through by picking their East Division winner as the overall champ. The West Division prediction, though, came down to a single point. Wisconsin received 20 first-place votes and totaled 233 points, while Iowa’s 16 first-place votes led to 232 points.

https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2023/07/michigan-clear-favorite-over-ohio-state-in-13th-annual-clevelandcom-preseason-big-ten-football-poll.html
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Big Ten East

1-Michigan (27 first-place votes) 248

2-Ohio State (8) 226

3-Penn State (2) 192

4-Maryland 143

5-Michigan State 105

6-Rutgers 74

7-Indiana 48

Big Ten West

1-Wisconsin (20 first-place votes) 233

2-Iowa (16) 232

3-Minnesota (1) 176

4-Illinois 152

5-Nebraska 116

6-Purdue 89

7-Northwestern 38

 
I’m a little surprised to see Wis get picked for the West. Fickell hiring an air raid OC was pretty surprising. I’m not sure what their attrition was like with the Fickell hire, but I have to imagine their cupboard is stocked pretty well. There’s a lot of vulnerability in the West, I’d say 1-4 would all have a pretty decent shot. 

 
Fru said:
I’m a little surprised to see Wis get picked for the West. Fickell hiring an air raid OC was pretty surprising. I’m not sure what their attrition was like with the Fickell hire, but I have to imagine their cupboard is stocked pretty well. There’s a lot of vulnerability in the West, I’d say 1-4 would all have a pretty decent shot. 
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I agree.  But, it's one of those...."well, we gotta pick someone" type of situations.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I agree.  But, it's one of those...."well, we gotta pick someone" type of situations.
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Yeah I’d say Wis probably the safest, even with the revamping of their program.
 

I’d have probably initially guessed Minnesota, but I recall reading/hearing somewhere that they’re replacing a huge amount of their production from last year. If they weren’t able to nab the West last year with Mo and Morgan, I don’t see how they do it with newer younger guys behind an even less experienced offensive line.

 
I think it comes down to the questions for each of the West favorites:

  • Wisconsin - How quickly can the new offensive scheme work?
  • Iowa - Can Brian Ferentz actually coordinate an offense that is even average?
  • Minnesota - Will the offense still work with only one 6th+ year guy?
  • Illinois - Can the offense take a step forward, and can the defense replace Walters + a lot of talent on the back end?

It's the right order IMO. Any of those could be answered, so none would surprise me. In a vacuum I'm least confident that Iowa can produce on offense, but McNamara and their other transfers (plus their returning TE) give them a shot. They did average over 30 points a game in 2018 with Ferentz as OC, Nathan Stanley at QB, and 2 1st round TEs. For this year - All and Lachey are good but not Fant and Hockenson, McNamara is probably better than Stanley but not by a ton, and the Big Ten West is much stronger - they aren't putting up 63 on Illinois anymore. I bet he'll squeak past the 25 ppg threshold, which might be enough depending on the other teams' progress. 

 
Husker in WI said:
I think it comes down to the questions for each of the West favorites:

  • Wisconsin - How quickly can the new offensive scheme work?
  • Iowa - Can Brian Ferentz actually coordinate an offense that is even average?
  • Minnesota - Will the offense still work with only one 6th+ year guy?
  • Illinois - Can the offense take a step forward, and can the defense replace Walters + a lot of talent on the back end?

It's the right order IMO. Any of those could be answered, so none would surprise me. In a vacuum I'm least confident that Iowa can produce on offense, but McNamara and their other transfers (plus their returning TE) give them a shot. They did average over 30 points a game in 2018 with Ferentz as OC, Nathan Stanley at QB, and 2 1st round TEs. For this year - All and Lachey are good but not Fant and Hockenson, McNamara is probably better than Stanley but not by a ton, and the Big Ten West is much stronger - they aren't putting up 63 on Illinois anymore. I bet he'll squeak past the 25 ppg threshold, which might be enough depending on the other teams' progress. 
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McNamara was a good pickup for them but I think keeping him and Petras healthy is going to be a significant concern. Both had injuries that required surgery, and Padilla hit the portal. I think Iowa is replacing a couple OL as well. There’s a scenario where they get down to their third string very quickly. 

 
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