While the Big Ten does not do an official preseason media poll, every year, Cleveland.com is here to save the day.
Cleveland.com every year asks media members from around the Big Ten to make their projections for the conference's upcoming season. This year, the poll featured 37 different voters, with at least one voter from each of the conference's 14 universities.
So, where does the Big Ten media see the Golden Gophers finishing this fall?
When it comes to the Big Ten West, the Golden Gophers are projected to finish in third place, though there is a lone voter who did select P.J. Fleck's program to win the Big Ten West. In the West, most voters believe this is a two-team race between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Iowa Hawkeyes; only one point separated the two programs, though Wisconsin did have more first-place votes with 20 to Iowa's 16.
The Golden Gophers finished with 176 points, 24 points ahead of fourth-place Illinois. Nebraska, Purdue, and Northwestern round out the Big Ten West's projected standings.
Over in the East Division, Michigan is the overwhelming favorite to win both the Big Ten East and the Big Ten title with 27 first-place votes. They were also the projected Big Ten champion in all 27 Big Ten championship game projected matchups. Ohio State earned eight first-place votes and is projected to finish second, while Penn State is projected third with two first-place votes.
In each of the 37 projected championship game matchups, the East winner is projected to be the Big Ten champion. The lone writer to choose the Gophers to win the West has them losing to the Michigan Wolverines.
The Golden Gophers this fall will look for a fourth straight full season of nine or more wins. Outside the COVID-shortened 2020 season in which they went 3-4, the Golden Gophers have won nine or more games in each of the last three seasons under head coach P.J. Fleck including 11 wins in 2019.
Minnesota gets its 2023 campaign underway on August 31 at 8:00 p.m. against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
============================
- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.
- SUBSCRIBE TO LOGoldenGophers
- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @AlexCarlsonTGR, @SeanW_Rivals, @DylanCC_FB, @JaredHalus, @GopherKaneRob, @LOGoldenGophers
- SUBSCRIBE to The Gopher Report.
