Ohio State fourth in Big Ten media poll
By the slimmest of margins, Michigan has been picked ahead of Purdue to win the 2021-22 Big Ten title.
In an annual preseason media poll conducted jointly by The Dispatch and The Athletic, both the Wolverines and Boilermakers received a total of 373 points from a panel of two beat writers for each team. But of those 28 ballots, Michigan received 13 first-place votes, one more than Purdue, to take the preseason title on the tiebreaker.
Michigan was the final Big Ten team standing last season, reaching the Elite Eight after capturing a regularseason league title during coach Juwan Howard's second season. The latter didn't come without controversy, though: After losing three games due to COVID-19, the Wolverines went 14-3 in league play and were awarded the title ahead of 16-4 Illinois on the basis of winning percentage. The Illini won the lone meeting between the teams.
The Fighting Illini finished third in this year's balloting and received the other three first-place votes. Illinois received a significant offseason boost