Michigan falls in Big 10 college football experts’ preseason poll

The annual Big Ten Conference Media Poll, conducted by YouTube channel Kings of the North, was released Monday morning ahead of Big Ten Media Week in Indianapolis, Indiana. The defending national champions Michigan Wolverines finished fourth behind Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State.

The poll, which has been sanctioned and administered by Doug Lesmerises every year since 2011, involved 33 media members from across the Big Ten landscape. They were asked to rank the conference’s 18 teams by standing prognosis, make predictions for the conference championship and award other player awards, such as Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year.

Preseason B1G Media Poll by @KOTNCFB
1. Ohio St
2. Oregon
3. Penn St
4. Michigan
5. Iowa
6. USC
7. Wisconsin
8. Nebraska
9.Rutgers
10. Washington
11. Maryland
12. Minnesota
13. University of California
14. Illinois
15. Michigan St
16. Northwest
17. Indiana
18. Purduehttps://t.co/PFq51nygH8

— Doug Lesmerises (@DougLesmerises) July 22, 2024

After winning the conference the past three seasons and winning the national championship last season, Michigan’s ranking is lower than it has been over the past few seasons.

Michigan is 29-1 in the conference over the last three seasons, including 25 consecutive wins. No team has been more dominant in the Big Ten in recent years than Michigan.

This ranking should come as no surprise, however, as the team went through several personnel changes in the offseason, starting with the departure of head coach Jim Harbaugh, who took over as head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. In addition to Harbaugh’s departure, the team lost several top talents from the national championship squad, including quarterback JJ McCarthy and running back Blake Corum, to the NFL Draft.

Sherrone Moore, who took over midway through last season during Jim Harbaugh’s three-game suspension for sign-stealing, was named head coach shortly after Harbaugh left for the NFL. With an untested first-year head coach and the departure of key players at valuable positions, Michigan is not a popular candidate for a repeat of this season or even the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Michigan will face Texas at home on September 7 and has late-season games against Oregon (November 2) and Ohio State in Columbus (November 30) that could be crucial for the standings.