Gophers voted to finish 12th in Big Ten according to preseason poll

It is officially preseason poll season.

Sep 16, 2023; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck on the field before the game at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten does not have an official preseason media poll, but Cleveland.com released its own for the conference on Monday and the Gophers are predicted to finish 12th in the final standings.

Big Ten preseason poll via @clevelanddotcom (B1G doesn’t do one)

1 Ohio St (21 1st place votes)
2 Oregon (6)
3 Penn St
4 Michigan
5 Iowa
6 USC
7 Wisconsin
8 Nebraska
9 Rutgers
10 Washington
11 Maryland
12 Minnesota
13 Illinois
14 Northwestern
15 UCLA
16 Mich St
17 Indiana
18…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 22, 2024

Finishing 12th place in the Big Ten does not mean what it once did, as there were not 18 teams in the conference. This season will be the conference's first without divisions since 2009 as former Pac-12 poweres Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington join the Big Ten.

The Gophers are coming off a 6-7 campaign and they were tasked with replacing the defensive coordinator and quarterback in the offseason and they have a lot of unknowns heading into 2024, which kicks off Aug. 29 at home against North Carolina.