Big Ten Media Poll: Michigan State Football Picked 5th In East Division
In the final year of a two-division split in the Big Ten Conference, the league's media expect a similar landing spot for Michigan State in the East division standings.
A Big Ten preseason media poll conducted by cleveland.com has the Spartans finishing fifth in their division in 2023, the same spot MSU finished after last season's disappointing 5-7 campaign.
For the first time since 2019, Ohio State was not picked by the media to win the conference. Michigan, with 27 out of 37 first-place votes in the East division, is the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten for a third consecutive season. The Buckeyes received eight first-place votes, while Penn State received two.
In the West division, Wisconsin is a slight favorite over Iowa to reach the conference championship game in Indianapolis. The Badgers received 20 first-place votes in the division, while the Hawkeyes received 16. Minnesota received one first-place vote. All 37 voters in the poll picked their East division winner to win the conference.
Each voter was asked to vote 1-7 in both divisions, with first-place votes worth seven points, second-place votes worth six and so on. The full list of point totals for each conference team can be viewed below:
Big Ten East
- Michigan (27 first-place votes) 248
- Ohio State (8) 226
- Penn State (2) 192
- Maryland 143
- Michigan State 105
- Rutgers 74
- Indiana 48
Big Ten West
- Wisconsin (20 first-place votes) 233
- Iowa (16) 232
- Minnesota (1) 176
- Illinois 152
- Nebraska 116
- Purdue 89
- Northwestern 38
