Where did Penn State finish in the preseason poll?

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The stacked Big Ten East division with Ohio State and Michigan State has one clear favorite.

Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer accepts an award from the Reds honoring the Buckeyes during the offseason. (Gary Landers/Associated Press)

That much is certain after Cleveland.com’s fifth annual Big Ten preseason football poll, which used responses from 40 beat writers around the conference to pick their order of finish in the Big Ten’s East and West division as well as preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honorees. The Big Ten doesn’t do an official preseason media poll so this is as close as it gets.

Ohio State is a unanimous pick to win the Big Ten and Wisconsin, with 32 first place votes is the favorite to win the West. 

Below are the complete Cleveland.com poll results, with the Nittany Lions picked to finish third in the East, behind Ohio State and Michigan State. Point totals follow each school along with first-place votes.

EAST

1. Ohio State 280 (40)

2. Michigan State 240

3. Penn State 186.5

4. Michigan 163.5

5. Maryland 95.5

6. Rutgers 78

7. Indiana 76.5

WEST

1. Wisconsin 272 (32)

2. Nebraska 231.5 (5)

3. Minnesota 197 (3)

4. Iowa 158.5

5. Northwestern 125

6. Illinois 77

7. Purdue 59

For those wondering, here’s what my ballot looked like:

EAST

1) Ohio State

2) Michigan State

3) Penn State

4) Michigan

5) Maryland

6) Rutgers

7) Indiana

WEST

1) Wisconsin

2) Nebraska

3) Iowa

4) Minnesota

5) Northwestern

6) Illinois

7) Purdue

You’ll notice there’s not much difference between the two, except for me placing Iowa ahead of Minnesota. I did pick Ohio State to beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game and predicted Ohio State would be the only team from the conference in the College Football Playoff. 

Also in the Cleveland.com poll, no surprise that Ohio State standout Joey Bosa was picked as the conference’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year. He secured the first-place vote from me too and I also had Michigan State’s Shilique Calhoun coming in next followed by Nittany Lion tackle Anthony Zettel.

Zettel garnered 25 votes, good enough for third place, and given his rare combination of speed and athleticism for an end-turned tackle -- plus the eye popping stats he put up last season with a team best 17 tackles for loss, eight sacks, three interceptions and a touchdown-- he’ll be one to keep an eye on. The full preseason Defensive Player of the Year votes can be found here.

Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott is the preseason Offensive Player of the Year, picking up 31 first-place votes (and 150 votes overall), including a first-place one from me. Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook is second with 57 votes and Ohio State’s Cardale Jones is third with 19 votes. Who knows what Urban Meyer does at quarterback, but Jones certainly showed last year what he’s capable of. I gave Jones the second place nod over Cook.

Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg was sixth with nine votes. Hackenberg’s spot also tied him with the voters who simply selected “Ohio State quarterbacks” in the same slot. All of the preseason Offensive Player of the Year votes can be found here.

Audrey Snyder: asnyder@post-gazette.com and Twitter @audsnyder4