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Iowa picked to finish 5th in 2024 Big Ten preseason media poll
Jay Higgins is media’s preseason runner-up for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
IOWA CITY — Big Ten beat writers picked Iowa football to finish fifth in the Big Ten in cleveland.com’s annual preseason poll.
Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and reigning national champion Michigan are ahead of Iowa in the poll, with a significant dropoff in votes between Michigan at No. 4 and Iowa at No. 5.
The Hawkeyes were picked above all three of their conference rivals — Wisconsin at No. 7, Nebraska at No. 8 and Minnesota at No. 12. They also were picked above three of the conference’s four newcomers, with Oregon being the exception at No. 2.
Ohio State received 21 first-place votes, and Oregon received six first-place votes. It is the eighth time in the poll’s 14-year history that Ohio State is the preseason media favorite.
Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins finished second in voting for preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, trailing only Michigan defensive back Will Johnson. Iowa defensive back Sebastian Castro also received votes. No players from Iowa received any votes for preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
About 11 percent of voters predicted that the Hawkeyes will appear in the 12-team College Football Playoff. The vast majority of voters expect the Big Ten to send either three or four teams to the newly-expanded CFP.
This is the 14th year of Cleveland.com conducting a preseason media poll. Twenty-seven media members, including The Gazette’s John Steppe, voted in the 2024 poll.
It is one of three preseason media polls this season in the Big Ten.
Kings of the North — a YouTube show hosted by former cleveland.com columnist Doug Lesmerises that talks about northern football — polled 33 media members who also picked the Hawkeyes to finish fifth in the conference. Nine percent of Kings of the North voters predicted a CFP appearance for Iowa.
A poll of 13 writers at Gannett-owned newspapers that cover the Big Ten picked the Hawkeyes to finish sixth in the conference, putting newcomer USC ahead of Iowa as well.
Cleveland.com’s 14th annual Big Ten preseason media poll
- Ohio State (480 points, 21 first-place votes)
- Oregon (448 points, six first-place votes)
- Penn State (418)
- Michigan (411)
- Iowa (363)
- USC (346)
- Wisconsin (313)
- Nebraska (293)
- Rutgers (249)
- Washington (236)
- Maryland (185)
- Minnesota (183)
- Illinois (145)
- Northwestern (138)
- UCLA (124)
- Michigan State (119)
- Indiana (76)
- Purdue (65)
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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