As Big Ten Media Days approaches this week, the 15th annual Cleveland.com Big Ten preseason poll was released with Penn State as its top vote getter.
The Nittany Lions received 11 of 25 first place votes with 435 points edging out second-place Ohio State who also had 10 first place votes had 431 points.
This is the first time Penn State has been selected as the preseason favorite and the first time since 2014 (Michigan State) a team other than Ohio State or Michigan has been selected as the preseason favorite.
While Cleveland.com pollsters had Penn State being the top regular season team in the conference, Ohio State edged Penn State in winning the Big Ten championship 13-12 in the voting.
Overall in the polls history, this is the fifth different team to be selected as the conference favorite. Penn State joins Ohio State (nine), Michigan (three), Michigan State (2014), and Nebraska (2011) as the teams selected in the poll to win the Big Ten.
With strong nucleuses on both sides of the ball returning that are similar to the builds that fueled Michigan (2023) and Ohio State (2024) to national championships is what is fueling Penn State’s preseason hype that is “Natty or Bust” for James Franklin who has a history of coming up short in big games.
Penn State returns quarterback Drew Allar, who could have left after last season and been a Top 10 pick in this past NFL Draft, will have his strongest supporting cast led by the top running back duo Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who have combined for 6,979 yards from scrimmage (5.9 per touch) and 68 touchdowns in their three seasons.
Penn State was aggressive in the transfer portal in the offseason to bolster their wide receiver core with Trebor Pena (Syracuse), Kyron Hudson (USC), and Devonte Ross (Troy).
Defensively, Penn State won the Jim Knowles sweepstakes at defensive coordinator who replaced Tom Allen, who left for the same position at Clemson.
Knowles will be aided with high-end talent at all defensive levels with EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton (PFF No. 9 EDGE), defensive tackle Zane Durant (PFF No. 2 DT), and cornerback AJ Harris (PFF No. 7 CB).
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Penn State opens their season August 30 against Nevada in Beaver Stadium.
