Big Ten media votes the Ohio State football team at the top

The Ohio State football team is expected to be one of the best in the country this season. Defensively, there might not be a better roster in the country. On offense, Chip Kelly is going to have this team doing better things than they did a year ago, especially with the additions of Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, and Seth McLaughlin.

Does the Big Ten media think that way? In anticipation of Big Ten Media Days starting on Tuesday, the media released their preseason poll. Ohio State had 27 of the 33 first-place votes. Oregon had the other six votes for the top spot and finished second in the poll. Clearly, the media loves Ohio State heading into this season.

The Ohio State football team is voted to win the Big Ten

The Buckeyes not only have a great roster, but they also have an easy schedule. Their two toughest games are at Oregon and at Penn State. The Penn State game is likely not a night game now that it’s announced it won’t be a whiteout game. That makes playing at Happy Valley a lot easier. Still, the game at Oregon is no joke.

Other than those two games, the schedule is fairly benign. They get Iowa and Michigan both at home at the Shoe. They don’t have a hard non-conference opponent this year. The other contenders in the conference all have harder schedules as well. Bring that all together and you have the Big Ten media that thinks Ohio State will be the winner of the Big Ten.

Anything less than a Big Ten title would be a disappointment for the Ohio State football program this season. The only possible redemption would be making the College Football Playoff and winning a national championship. With the new 12-team CFP format, that is certainly possible.