2nd Annual Big Ten sportswriters preseason poll

Last summer, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Doug Lesmerises had the idea to have a real preseason poll as opposed to the kind of toothless preseason poll the Big Ten puts out, which has now been boiled down to a watch list.

This summer, Doug is covering the Olympics in London, so he asked for someone to lead the band and Bob Asmussen from the Champaign News-Gazette stepped in and whipped this up in a very quick few days.

-- Wisconsin and Michigan are the overwhelming faves in their respective divisions. Remember, Ohio State's season is purely ceremonial this season with the Buckeyes serving a one-year bowl ban.

-- Does Penn State belong in fifth in the Leaders? You could probably make an argument for that even before the Sandusky scandal hit. Still, Silas Redd is a running back to be reckoned with.

-- How real is Michigan State? The Spartans are legit. Four straight over Michigan and a Big Ten title game appearance punctuate that statement. But if they can punch through this year, where do the Spartans fit in the NU landscape of the Big Ten? Pretty high, to answer that rhetorical.

-- Hawkeyes were voted fourth in the Legends. On paper, that's hard to argue right now. We're a few weeks out from fall camp. Paper won't mean much very, very soon.

-- Just three offensive players received votes for POY, while seven defensive players received votes. Offense must be that much of a no-brainer.

Here are the results from the second annual Big Ten sportswriters preseason poll. (Big Ten media days start Thursday in Chicago. Here we go.)

LEADERS

Team (First-place votes) Points

1. Wisconsin (19) 139

2. Ohio State (5) 125

3. Purdue 79

4. Illinois 72

5. Penn State 65

6. Indiana 24

LEGENDS

Team (First-place votes) Points

1. Michigan (16) 134

2. Michigan State (7) 120

3. Nebraska (1) 104

4. Iowa 72

5. Northwestern 51

6. Minnesota 24

Title-game winner: Michigan over Wisconsin (11 votes).

Others: Michigan State over Wisconsin (7), Wisconsin over Michigan (5), Wisconsin over Nebraska (1).

Offensive MVP: Montee Ball, Wisconsin (14 votes).

Others: Denard Robinson, Michigan (9), Braxton Miller, Ohio State (1).

Defensive MVP: William Gholston, Michigan State (11 votes).

Others: Kawaan Short, Purdue (5), Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State (3), John Simon, Ohio State (2), Denicos Allen, Michigan State (1), Chris Borland, Wisconsin (1), Gerald Hodges, Penn State (1).

The voters

Bob Asmussen, Champaign News-Gazette

Steve Batterson, Quad City Times

David Briggs, Toledo Blade

Mike Carmin, Lafayette Joournal & Courier

Matt Charboneau, Detroit News

Brian Christopherson, Lincoln Journal Star

Pete DiPrimio, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel

Dustin Dopirak, Bloomington Herald-Times

Chris Emma, Northwestern scout.com

Bob Flounders, Harrisburg Patriot-News

Marcus Fuller, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune

Terry Hutchens, Indianapolis Star

Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sam McKewon, Omaha World-Herald

Kyle Meinke, Annarbor.com

Phil Miller, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Marc Morehouse, Cedar Rapids Gazette

Tom Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal

Jeff Potyrkus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Joe Rexrode, Lansing State Journal

Jeff Rice, Lions 24/7

Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press

John Supinie, GateHouse News Service