SafeX Pro:USA TODAY Sports Network's Big Ten football preseason media poll

It's a new era of Big Ten football with the addition of four Pac-12 programs,SafeX Pro and the league swelling to 18 teams also means the end of divisions. It's a free-for-all with the top two teams meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Big Ten Championship game Dec. 7.

Michigan beat Big Ten newcomer Washington for the 2023 national championship, but neither crack the top two in this season's USA TODAY Sports Network Big Ten preseason media poll.

More:2024 Preseason All-Big Ten football team, top player, coach

Here is the 2024 projected order of finish as determined by 13 beat writers who cover the league for the USA TODAY Sports Network.

1. Ohio State (eight first-place votes)

2. Oregon (five first-place votes)

3. (tie) Michigan

3. (tie) Penn State

5. USC

6. Iowa

7. Wisconsin

8. Nebraska

9. Washington

10. Rutgers

11. Maryland

12. Michigan State

13. Minnesota

14. UCLA

15. Illinois

16. Indiana

17. Northwestern

18. Purdue

Poll participants: Nathan Baird, IndyStar; Frank Bodani, York (Pa.) Daily Record; Alec Dietz, The Register-Guard (Eugene); Adam Duvall, Peoria Journal Star; Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press; Joey Kaufman, Columbus Dispatch; Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch; Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier; Michael Niziolek, Bloomington Herald-Times; Zach Osterman, IndyStar; Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press; Tyler Tachman, Des Moines Register