LAS VEGAS — A Big Ten hierarchy has been formed heading into 2025, and one program’s spotlight has arguably never been brighter.
James Franklin is entering his 12th season as Penn State’s head coach and has put together a roster that suggests a ‘Natty or Bust’ tag seems appropriate, particularly within the conference. For the first time, the Nittany Lions have been picked as the favorite in the 15th annual Cleveland.com Preseason Big Ten Football Poll. Of the 25 voters, 11 picked PSU to win the conference.
Penn State enters the season with a bevy of returning talent, similar to what Michigan and Ohio State did the last two seasons. Both went on to win national titles, even if the Wolverines were the only ones to win the conference. Franklin hopes to continue that trend of Big Ten success by building on a trip to the College Football Playoff semifinal in 2024.
That starts under center, where Drew Allar is considered the Big Ten’s best quarterback entering the season as a third-year starter. Allar — a Medina, Ohio native — has thrown for 6,302 yards and 53 touchdowns. He is 23-5 as a starter.
Joining Allar in the backfield are the running back tandem of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, entering this season as the Big Ten’s best duo. Both are coming off 1,000-yard rushing seasons in 2024.
Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles takes over after spending three seasons with OSU. He’ll scheme up a defense still loaded with talent despite losing first-round NFL Draft pick Abdul Carter. Headlining that talent are Dani Dennis Sutton and Zane Durant up front, while A.J. Harris leads a talented secondary.
Penn State has not won the Big Ten since 2016, during what was Franklin’s third season as head coach.
Last season, Ohio State was picked as the favorite to win the conference, but loses to Michigan and Oregon resulted in a fourth-place finish. However the Buckeyes did go on to win the national title in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Despite losing 15 players to the NFL draft, OSU — who earned 11 first-place votes — sit second in the 2025 preseason rankings.
Ohio State returns arguably the best player on both sides of the ball with the Big Ten Preseason Players of the Year Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith. However, they are replacing both coordinators with Brian Hartline as the new offensive coordinator and Matt Patricia as the new defensive coordinator. OSU will head into fall camp with a quarterback battle between Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz.
Third-place Oregon — who won the conference last season — and fifth-place Michigan were the only other teams to earn a first-place vote.
Cleveland.com picked up the responsibility for organizing the poll when the Big Ten dropped it 15 years ago. Beat writers from all 18 Big Ten teams were invited to participate, as were some who cover the entire league or have a national perspective. A total of 24 voters participated.
The only other major conference that does not organize and release a preseason poll is the Big 12, which came to this decision this year.
Big Ten Media Days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Las Vegas. The conference will release a watch list of players — five from each division — but no predicted finish.
Each writer was asked to vote 1-18, with first-place votes worth 18 points, second-place votes worth 17 and so on:
| Rank | Team (1st place) | Points | Average Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | Penn State (11) | 435 | 1.60 |
| No. 2 | Ohio State (10) | 431 | 1.76 |
| No. 3 | Oregon (2) | 405 | 2.80 |
| No. 4 | Illinois | 353 | 4.88 |
| No. 5 | Michigan (1) | 346 | 5.16 |
| No. 6 | Indiana | 305 | 680 |
| No. 7 | Iowa | 287 | 7.52 |
| No. 8 | Nebraska | 277 | 7.92 |
| No. 9 | USC | 269 | 8.24 |
| No. 10 | Washington | 216 | 10.36 |
| No. 11 | Minnesota | 192 | 11.32 |
| No. 12 | Wisconsin | 159 | 12.60 |
| No. 13 | Michigan State | 135 | 13.60 |
| No. 13 | Rutgers | 135 | 13.60 |
| No. 15 | UCLA | 134 | 13.64 |
| No. 16 | Maryland | 91 | 15.36 |
| No. 17 | Northwestern | 65 | 16.40 |
| No. 18 | Purdue | 39 | 17.44 |
Cleveland.com also asked voters to predict how many teams the Big Ten would make the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Penn State made all but one ballot, while OSU and Oregon made all but two.
Every ballot featured Ohio State making it, while all but one featured Oregon. Illinois and Michigan were both featured on nine ballots and one featured Indiana.
The breakdown in terms of teams predicted:
Other poll notes
• Penn State is the fifth different team to be picked as the Big Ten favorite, joining Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Ohio State. However, this is the first time since 2014 that the Big Ten favorite hasn’t been either the Buckeyes or Wolverines.
• While Penn State was picked to finish first in the Big Ten regular season, the vote was practically split 50-50 on who would win the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 6 in Indianapolis, with OSU edging out 13-12.
• Oregon (2) and Michigan (1) were the only other teams to receive first-place votes.
• Illinois finished fourth in voting, while the Wolverines finished fifth. Both only received one vote higher than fourth place.
• Purdue was the only team not to receive a single vote higher than 14th. This is the second-straight year that the Boilermakers have been picked to finish last in the conference.
• UCLA and Washington had the widest range of votes this year. The Bruice earned votes from ninth-place to 17th-place, while the Huskies earned votes from sixth-place to 14th place
• Wisconsin, Maryland, Northwestern and Purdue each got last-place votes
• We also asked voters to state which Big Ten coach should be on the hot seat heading into 2025. Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell got 11 votes while Maryland’s Mike Locksley and USC’s Lincoln Riley got six votes.
Preseason History
2024: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Oregon
2023: Pick: Michigan. Actual: Michigan.
2022: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Michigan.
2021: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Michigan.
2020: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Ohio State.
2019: Pick: Michigan. Actual: Ohio State.
2018: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Ohio State.
2017: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Ohio State.
2016: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Penn State.
2015: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Michigan State.
2014: Pick: Michigan State. Actual: Ohio State.
2013: Pick: Ohio State. Actual: Michigan State.
2012: Pick: Michigan. Actual: Wisconsin.
2011: Pick: Nebraska. Actual: Wisconsin.
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