Minnesota Football: Gophers picked to finish third in Big Ten West in preseason poll

Ahead of Big Ten Media Days, Cleveland.com released their annual Big Ten football preseason poll of 36 beat writers from around the conference. The Minnesota Golden Gophers are predicted to finish third in the Big Ten West, trailing only Wisconsin and Iowa. They received two first-place votes, with both voters also predicting a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship.

As expected, Ohio State was the unanimous choice to win both the Big Ten East and the conference championship. Michigan, the reigning champion, is predicted to finish second.

Big Ten West predicted order of finish:

1. Wisconsin (246; 31 first-place votes)
2. Iowa (198; 3 first-place votes)
3. Minnesota (162; 2 first-place votes)
4. Purdue (153)
5. Nebraska (123)
6. Illinois (65)
7. Northwestern (61)

Big Ten East predicted order of finish:

1. Ohio State (252; 36 first-place votes)
2. Michigan (203)
3. Penn State (169)
4. Michigan State (162)
5. Maryland (104)
6. Rutgers (60)
7. Indiana (58)

Big Ten Media Days will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis from July 26-27. Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck will attend and be available to the media on Tuesday, July 26. Joining him will be Minnesota football players Tanner Morgan, John Michael Schmitz, Mariano Sori-Marin, and Tyler Nubin.