Big Ten Media Days preview: unofficial poll, 10-man all-conference team

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - In anticipation of Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis the next day, Monday provided something the conference does not: an annual media poll predicting the season.

Several years ago, the conference stopped sponsoring an official poll, so cleveland.com has stepped in to fill the gap for the past 12 years. Consisting of beat media covering Big Ten and national college football, the poll ranks teams one through seven in the Western and Eastern Divisions and then predicts a championship game scenario.

Nebraska was as high as second on several ballots but finished fifth in the west. Wisconsin, Iowa, featuring the pre-season defensive player of the year Jack Campbell, and Minnesota all received first-place votes, followed by Purdue and the Huskers. The Illini and Northwestern round out the west. The Huskers of course open against the Wildcats in Ireland on August 27th.

In the east, everybody put the Ohio State Buckeyes at number one and in the championship game. Thirty-one of 36 pollsters have Ohio State beating Wisconsin in the title game.

Late Monday one of the weirdest pre-season football teams in terms of mathematics you’ll see was released by the conference. It features only ten players, five from the East and five from the West. None were from Nebraska. Ohio State’s QB C.J. Stroud, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy last year, a unanimous pick.

On a positive note from Monday, Blackshirt Luke Reimer was named to the Dick Butkus Award watch list.

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