Nebraska named Big Ten football favorite in media poll; Michigan fourth in Legends Division
Nebraska, which just placed new flags with Big Ten logos on the campus in early July, was voted as the favorite to hang the first Big Ten championship game banner.
AP Photo
The new guy already is the big man on campus.
Nebraska enters its initial Big Ten football season as the media’s favorite to win the league’s first championship game, edging Wisconsin 12-11 in the Big Ten Preseason Newspaper Poll results announced Monday.
Michigan State picked up the only other vote for league champion.
The voting included two beat writers for each Big Ten team and was conducted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Doug Lesmerises. The system takes the place of the old media poll, which was scrapped by the Big Ten at the request of the conference’s coaches.
BIG TEN PRESEASON NEWSPAPER POLL
The Cornhuskers garnered 19 of 24 votes to win the Legends Division and Wisconsin earned 22 votes to capture the Leaders Division -- becoming overwhelming favorites to earn the first divisional titles in league history.
Michigan State earned four first-place votes and finished second in the Legends Division behind Nebraska.
Michigan was picked fourth in the division, but garnered one vote to win it.
Ohio State finished second and Penn State third in the Leaders Division. Each had one first-place vote.
RESULTS
LEGENDS DIVISION
Team, first place votes, total points
1. Nebraska (19) 139
2. Michigan State (4) 118
3. Iowa 82
4. Michigan (1) 71
5. Northwestern 69
6. Minnesota 25
LEADERS DIVISION
Team, first place votes, total points
1. Wisconsin (22) 141
2. Ohio State (1) 113
3. Penn State (1) 95
4. Illinois 76
5. Purdue 52
6. Indiana 27
TITLE GAME MATCHUPS:
Nebraska over Wisconsin (10)
Wisconsin over Nebraska (7)
Wisconsin over Michigan State (3)
Nebraska over Ohio State (1)
Nebraska over Penn State (1)
Wisconsin over Michigan (1)
Michigan State over Wisconsin (1)
VOTERS
Nebraska: Brian Christopherson, Lincoln Journal Star; Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald
Iowa: Marc Morehouse, Cedar Rapids Gazette; Andy Hamilton, Iowa City Press-Citizen
Michigan: Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press; Kyle Meinke, AnnArbor.com
Minnesota: Marcus Fuller, St. Paul Pioneer Press; Phil Miller, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Northwestern: Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune; Lindsey Willhite, Daily Herald
Michigan State: Joe Rexrode, Lansing State Journal; Matt Charboneau, Detroit News
Wisconsin: Tom Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal; Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ohio State: Matt Markey, Toledo Blade; Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Penn State: Bob Flounders, Harrisburg Patriot-News; Jeff Rice, Centre Daily Times
Indiana: Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star; Dustin Dopirak, Bloomington Herald-Times
Purdue: Pete DiPrimio, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel; Mike Carmin, Lafayette Journal and Courier
Illinois: Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette; John Supinie, GateHouse News Service
Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.
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