Most overrated and underrated teams in the Big Ten football preseason poll

Big Ten football media days are here, but before the festivity’s kickoff, let’s take a look at a newly released preseason poll.

The Big Ten doesn’t do a preseason poll before the season starts, so the go-to poll for the past decade and a half has come from Cleveland.com. They released their annual Big Ten football preseason poll on Monday, and it didn’t have the Illini in a favorable light.

Emerging as the clear leader in the voting by 27 members of the media was Ohio State. They took the top spot with 21 out of 27 votes. Oregon is projected to finish second in the Big Ten with six first-place votes.

You have to travel pretty far down to find the Illinois football program. Checking in at No. 13 out of the newly-minted 18-team conference are the Illini. We are projected to finish one spot below Minnesota and a spot ahead of the team up north.

Most overrated and underrated teams in the Big Ten football preseason poll

Honestly, with so many teams in the Big Ten, I am not that shocked by Illinois’ No. 13 ranking. I think there is plenty of room to climb. I could make an argument we should be ahead of Maryland and Minnesota, but we can prove that on the football field.

Most overrated team: Michigan

I am shocked that Michigan takes the No. 4 spot in the Cleveland.com Big Ten football preseason poll. They are coming off a national title, but the Wolverines lost a ton of talent.

Don’t get me wrong, Michigan will be good again this season, but you have to expect some type of step back from the pinnacle of the football world. I could legitimately see Iowa and USC finishing ahead of the Wolverines in 2024.

Most underrated team: Purdue

I know that Purdue struggled last season, barely getting to four wins. Another thing to watch is their tough schedule. I haven’t looked at the strength of schedule rankings, but just looking at what the Boilermakers have to play in 2024, it will be a tough test.

With that being said, nearly all of the Purdue team returns this season. Hudson Card now has a full year in this offense, so he should be better. Purdue’s defense is going to be much improved as well. They also added some great transfers in the secondary.