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Big Ten preseason poll: Penn State tops Ohio State as 2025 favorite
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The leading unofficial Big Ten media poll is out. For the first time, Penn State is the favorite to finish in first place.
Big Ten Media Days are set to be held Tuesday-Thursday in Las Vegas. The conference dropped its preseason poll 15 years ago. Cleveland.com took up the responsibility, organizing a poll of beat writers and national media members who cover the B1G. The Cleveland.com poll has served as the official unofficial B1G media poll.
The 2025 poll had 24 participants. Penn State picked up 11 first-place votes over defending national champion Ohio State’s 10. Oregon and Michigan also received votes.
Here’s the full poll:
| Rank | Team (1st place) | Points | Average Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | Penn State (11) | 435 | 1.60 |
| No. 2 | Ohio State (10) | 431 | 1.76 |
| No. 3 | Oregon (2) | 405 | 2.80 |
| No. 4 | Illinois | 353 | 4.88 |
| No. 5 | Michigan (1) | 346 | 5.16 |
| No. 6 | Indiana | 305 | 680 |
| No. 7 | Iowa | 287 | 7.52 |
| No. 8 | Nebraska | 277 | 7.92 |
| No. 9 | USC | 269 | 8.24 |
| No. 10 | Washington | 216 | 10.36 |
| No. 11 | Minnesota | 192 | 11.32 |
| No. 12 | Wisconsin | 159 | 12.60 |
| No. 13 | Michigan State | 135 | 13.60 |
| No. 13 | Rutgers | 135 | 13.60 |
| No. 15 | UCLA | 134 | 13.64 |
| No. 16 | Maryland | 91 | 15.36 |
| No. 17 | Northwestern | 65 | 16.40 |
| No. 18 | Purdue | 39 | 17.44 |
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.