2023 Big Ten Preseason Media Poll: Predicted order of finish revealed
With college football season about a month away, the Big Ten 2023 preseason media poll was released by Cleveland.com on Tuesday. The announcement comes a day before the conference is set to begin its annual Media Days on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
The 2023 season will mark the final year that the Big Ten will be split up into East and West Divisions before abandoning the divisional format in 2024. It will also be the last season before USC and UCLA join the conference. Still, there’s plenty to look forward to before the big changes take place, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting season. Ohio State and Michigan have claimed the conference title in each of the past six seasons, with the Wolverines winning the last two years. Those two schools once again are a contender in the conference heading into 2023, but Penn State is nipping at their heels hoping for its first Big Ten Championship since 2016. In the West, programs such as Iowa and Wisconsin will aim to challenge them.
With the release of the preseason Big Ten media poll, we now have an idea of where those teams are expected to finish in 2023. You can view the full projected order of finish for the conference below.
Big Ten East: (First place votes), Total
1. Michigan Wolverines (27 first-place votes) 248
Coming off of back-to-back Big Ten titles, the Wolverines have their sights set on another in 2023. To do so, they’ll likely need to take out rival Ohio State, whom they beat the past two seasons after coach Jim Harbaugh failed to take out the Buckeyes in his first five seasons.
Things look promising for Michigan’s chances this year thanks to the return of running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, who combined for 2,454 yards and 25 touchdowns a year ago. Quarterback JJ McCarthy is also back for his second year as the full-time starter, giving the Wolverines hope of not only winning the conference again, but also competing for a national title.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes (8) 226
Ohio State was just a missed field goal shy of taking out eventual national champion Georgia in last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal. Although the Buckeyes lose quarterback CJ Stroud to the NFL, there is belief they can reclaim the Big Ten from Michigan and get back to the CFP this season.
Much of that is due to returning what is the best receiver duo in the country with Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. Both players had more than 1,000 yards this past season, and should make life enjoyable for whoever wins the quarterback battle between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown. Throw in running backs Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson, and this offense should be one of the most explosive in the country, let alone the Big Ten.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (2) 192
Penn State finished 11-2 this past season with its only two losses coming to Michigan and Ohio State. However, with 14 returning starters from a year ago including running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, the Nittany Lions stand to challenge the Wolverines and Buckeyes for the Big Ten East crown.
Singleton and Allen became the first pair of true freshman to rush for 700 yards each in 2022, with Singleton’s 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns setting program records. Former five-star quarterback Drew Allar is set to take over for Sean Clifford, setting the expectations for the offense even higher. Blocking for them all is left tackle Olu Fashanu, a projected top 10 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
4. Maryland Terrapins 143
The Terrapins should boast one of the top passing attacks in the entire Big Ten led by quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. They finished 8-5 this past season for their best record since 2010 and now have hopes of another breakthrough in Tagovailoa’s third year as the starter.
Tagovailoa is the conference’s leading returning passer after throwing for 3,008 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions this past season. He gets back leading receiver Jeshaun Jones, and Maryland also added transfer receivers Tyrese Chambers and Kaden Prather to bolster what should be a potent offense.
5. Michigan State Spartans 105
Just two years ago, coach Mel Tucker looked to have the makings of something special after leading the Spartans to an 11-2 record and Peach Bowl victory. But after following that up with a 5-7 season and seeing 20 players leave for the transfer portal this offseason, things have changed in a hurry.
Now entering his fourth season, Tucker finds himself needing to turn things around quickly to avoid another losing record that could land him on the hot seat. With both starting quarterback Payton Thorne and leading receiver Keon Coleman among the offseason departures, he faces a tall task in doing so.
6. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 74
Rutgers has yet to post a winning record in the three seasons since Greg Schiano returned as coach. However, the team has a shot to make a bowl game in 2023 depending on how quarterback Gavin Wimsatt develops.
Wimsatt completed just 44.8% of his passes this past season in six starts. As a result, the Scarlet Knights offense was one of the worst in the FBS this past season, ranking 124th of 131 teams with 17.7 points per game. They bring in a new offensive coordinator in Kirk Ciarocca in attempt to get things back on track.
7. Indiana Hoosiers 48
Hoosiers coach Tom Allen finds himself under pressure to win quickly after back-to-back losing seasons. In attempt to turn things around, he brought in 13 transfers to rank second in the Big Ten according to On3’s Team Transfer Portal Rankings.
Among those additions is former Tennessee quarterback Tayven Jackson, a former four-star recruit in the 2022 class who is expected to compete with redshirt freshman Brendan Sorsby for the starting job. Receiver Cam Camper returns from an ACL injury to lead the wideouts as Indiana hopes for better results in 2023.
Big Ten West
1. Wisconsin Badgers (20) 233
Luke Fickell started off his tenure as Wisconsin’s coach on the right note with a 24-17 victory against Oklahoma State in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in December. Now he’ll aim to make the Badgers a contender in the Big Ten West in his inaugural season.
Fickell was active in the transfer portal to bring in the No. 1 transfer class in the Big Ten, led by former SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai. He also added transfer receivers including former Cincinnati players Quincy Burroughs and Will Paulding. With running back Braelon Allen returning following a 1,000-yard season, Wisconsin should compete right away under Fickell.
2. Iowa Hawkeyes (16) 232
Iowa had one of the best defenses in the Big Ten this past season, ranking first in yards allowed (270.8) and second in points allowed (13.3) per game. The only issue was that its offense ranked on the opposite end of the spectrum, mustering just 17.7 points per contest (12th in the Big Ten) as the Hawkeyes finished 8-5.
To hopefully provide the offense a spark, coach Kirk Ferentz brought in former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara, who led the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance in 2021. They also return running back Kaleb Johnson (779 yards, 6 TDs in 2022). The defense should remain solid as always, but if the offense can catch up, the Hawkeyes have potential to make some noise in the West.
3. Minnesota Golden Gophers (1) 176
PJ Fleck has been fairly consistent since taking over the Golden Gophers in 2017, posting a winning record in four of the past five seasons (9-4 in 2022). However, he loses starting quarterback Tanner Morgan and the program’s all-time rushing leader Mohamed Ibrahim (4,668 yards).
Fleck found his likely successor through the portal with Western Michigan transfer Sean Tyler, the No. 6 running back according to On3’s Transfer Player Rankings. He also has former four-star quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis waiting to take over for Morgan, and Minnesota should once again pose a threat in the Big Ten West.
4. Illinois Fighting Illini 152
The Fighting Illini are coming off of their first winning season in more than a decade after finishing 8-5 this past year. However, they lose both starting quarterback Tommy DeVito as well as running back Chase Brown, who finished second in the Big Ten with 1,643 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022.
Replacing them won’t be easy, but returning running backs Reggie Love III and Josh McCray will do their best to fill the void Brown left behind. At quarterback, Illinois turns to Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmeyer as it hopes to again achieve bowl eligibility in coach Bret Bielema‘s third season in Champaign.
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers 116
First-year coach Matt Rhule hopes to return the Cornhuskers to relevance after six long seasons in Lincoln without a winning football team. It might take a couple of seasons to transition, but Nebraska has confidence in Rhule thanks his quick turnarounds in previous stops at Baylor and Temple.
The Huskers would be happy simply to make a bowl in Rhule’s inaugural season, but any sign of progress would be welcomed . The coach brought in Georgia Tech transfer quarterback Jeff Sims and returns leading rusher Anthony Grant (915 yards, 6 TDs) to give him a shot at doing so.
6. Purdue Boilermakers 89
Purdue won the West division to reach the Big Ten title game a year ago, but loses a good chunk of the team that got it there. That includes head coach Jeff Brohm, who left for Louisville, and starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
New coach Ryan Walters takes over after a two-year stint as the defensive coordinator at Illinois. He’ll bring back leading rusher Devin Mockobee (968 yards, 9 TDs) and adds Texas transfer quarterback Hudson Card to step in for O’Connell. They’ll aim to keep the success from 2022 going.
7. Northwestern Wildcats 38
No team in the Big Ten finds itself in a worse position than Northwestern entering the 2023 season. On the heels of a hazing scandal that resulted in multiple lawsuits, the Wildcats fired coach Pat Fitzgerald after 17 seasons.
Several players have already entered the transfer portal as defensive coordinator David Braun was promoted to interim head coach. Northwestern is coming off of a 1-11 season and, given its current situation, there’s not much reason to think it will do anything but marginally better than that this year.
Big Ten Championship Game Predictions
Michigan over Wisconsin (15)
Michigan over Iowa (11)
Michigan Minnesota (1)
Ohio State over Iowa (4)
Ohio State over Wisconsin (4)
Penn State over Iowa (1)
Penn State over Wisconsin (1)
That wraps up the recap of the 2023 Big Ten preseason media poll. As with all preseason rankings, there will surely be some teams on this list who outperform where they are listed as well as programs that underachieve. But as things stand right now, the poll gives a good idea of what to expect in the Big Ten this season.