Ohio State Football: Buckeyes picked to win Big Ten in 2024

Oregon got six first-place votes and was the runaway No. 2 in the poll followed by Penn State, Michigan and Iowa in the top five.

USC came in sixth followed by Wisconsin, Nebraska, Rutgers and Washington.

Maryland ranked 11th followed by Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, UCLA, Michigan State and Indiana with Purdue voted 18th.

Oregon or Ohio State received every first and second-place vote except for one. Defending champion Michigan got one second-place vote.

Ohio State was the favorite in eight of cleveland.com’s first 13 preseason polls, including seven of the last nine, but only actually won the title in 2017, ‘18 and ‘20.

The Buckeyes were also champions in 2014 and ‘19 when they were not the favorites.

Ohio State is also No. 1 in the preseason poll published by Kings of the North, a podcast run by long-time college football writer Doug Lesmerisis, who began the cleveland.com poll when he was a writer for that site.

Oregon is No. 2 in that poll followed by Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, USC, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Rutgers with Washington rounding out the top 10.

Ohio State has not won the Big Ten since 2020, the final season of a four-year championship streak for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes are widely considered to have a championship-caliber roster this season thanks to bringing back almost everyone from one of the nation’s best defenses. The offense has more questions but boasts two of the top running backs in the country in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.

Oregon, one of four new members joining the league along with USC, UCLA and Washington, has been on the rise under head coach Dan Lanning. His squad returns six starters on offense and four on defense. The Ducks lost Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Bo Nix but replaced him with veteran Dillon Gabriel, a transfer from Oklahoma.

Michigan has won three straight Big Ten titles and won the national championship last season, but the Wolverines lost head coach Jim Harbaugh, much of his staff and virtually all of its offense in January. The defense is expected to be stout, however, with a strong core returning and some players who were key reserves getting larger roles this fall.

Penn State, which has consistently been the third-best team in the Big Ten over the last few years but unable to get over that hump, returns six starters on each side of the ball for veteran coach James Franklin.

The publishing of the polls coincides with Big Ten Football Media Days scheduled to take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Tuesday-Thursday.