Josh Helmholdt polled the Rivals.com Big Ten team site publishers for their preseason thoughts, and not surprisingly, Ohio State and Michigan received most of the love. Here are the results.
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CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals100 | Position | Team | State
MORE BIG TEN: Class of 2020 team rankings | Sleepers to watch
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THE CHAMPION
The difference between Ohio State and Michigan for No. 1 in the preseason Big Ten power poll was razor thin. In fact, if just one first-place vote for Ohio State had gone to Michigan instead, the Wolverines would have had the most total points and taken the top spot in the poll.
While the Big Ten publishers were in strong agreement about the top two in the league, there was a lack of consensus about which teams should come next. Seven different programs received third-place votes, including four from the Big Ten’s West Division.
Full power poll below
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BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin
Third-year Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor was the clear pick for the Big Ten’s preseason Player of the Year, garnering 11 of the 14 votes. An Associated Press preseason All-American, Taylor has rushed for 4,171 yards and 29 touchdowns in his first two years in Madison. In 2018, Taylor became the fourth Badger in 20 seasons to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back.
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BIG TEN NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
The Transfer Portal was college football’s biggest off-season storyline, and the Big Ten will see several faces in new places as a result of off-season transfers. Ohio State first-year quarterback Justin Fields is one of those transfers, and he was the pick of Rivals’ Big Ten experts to be the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
Fields played in 12 games as a true freshman last season at Georgia behind starter Jake Fromm, completing 27-of-39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns. He was a five-star prospect and ranked No. 2 overall in the Rivals100 for the 2018 recruiting class.
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BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR: Ryan Day, Ohio State
The projections for Big Ten Coach of the Year were more varied than the previous two categories, but first-year Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was the top vote-getter, earning seven total votes. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh was the second-most popular choice, while Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm each received at least one vote.
Day succeeds Urban Meyer, whom he filled in for as interim head coach for three games to start the 2018 season while Meyer was placed on suspension. The Buckeyes won all three of those games with Day in charge.
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THE POWER POLL
