Wisconsin Football Picked to Win Big Ten West in Preseason Media Poll

Every year before the Big Ten Media Days, the media for the Big Ten Conference conduct a poll to predict how the teams will finish. The Wisconsin football team has been picked to win the West for the past three years. This year is not any different. The Badgers have been picked to win the division for the fourth year in a row, despite not winning it since 2019.

The media poll was published by Nathan Baird at cleveland.com.

The predictions out of the West are as follows:

1. Wisconsin (20) 233
2. Iowa (16) 232
3. Minnesota (1) 176
4. Illinois 152
5. Nebraska 116
6. Purdue 89
7. Northwestern 38

How the voting put Wisconsin Football at the top of the predictions

The number inside the parenthesis indicates the number of first-place votes that the team received. The number outside the parenthesis is the total amount of points received based on votes. First-place votes earn more points than second-place votes. Second-place votes are worth more than third-place votes and so on.

The Badgers narrowly edged out Iowa for the top spot in the West, despite having four more first-place votes. This was because Iowa had 17 second-place votes to Wisconsin’s 11.

Another ‘fun’ little tidbit that made the voting a little closer is that one media member voted the Wisconsin football team to finish sixth in the West this season.

Sixth.

In the poll, the media members also predicted their Big Ten Championship scenarios. In all of the scenarios Wisconsin made an appearance in the title game, they lost.

15 members predicted Michigan would defeat Wisconsin. Four picked Ohio State over Wisconsin, and finally, one member picked a Penn State victory over the Badgers.

So while it’s a little discouraging that no media members believe the Wisconsin football team can win the conference, it’s still a positive reflection on the program that many think they’ll win the division in Fickell’s first year at the helm. If Fickell is going to build the Badgers into a championship-level contender, it’s going to take some time. But this is certainly a step in the right direction if they can make it to Indianapolis at the end of the regular season.

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