Michigan men’s basketball coach Dusty May meets football coach Sherrone Moore
Michigan new men’s basketball coach Dusty May meets football coach Sherrone Moore, March 26, 2024.
It all worked out in the end for Michigan football in 2023. An undefeated regular season and a Big Ten title finally led to a national championship, and even the specter of an NCAA investigation and a sign stealing scandal couldn’t derail the Wolverines.
But former coach Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL this offseason. So did quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum and a national-best 13 players chosen in the 2024 NFL draft. The Big Ten, meanwhile, is about to embark on a new era, with 18 schools spread all across the country now that Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA have joined from the ashes of the Pac-12.
Gone from the Big Ten are divisions, replaced by an 18-team free-for-all in which the top two at the end of the regular season advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 7. Michigan, of course, beat Washington in the national championship game last season, but both teams will have plenty of new faces. To that end, neither cracked the top two in this season’s USA TODAY Sports Network Big Ten preseason media poll.
Here is the 2024 projected order of finish as determined by 13 beat writers who cover the league for the USA TODAY Sports Network:
Where is Michigan football predicted to finish in Big Ten?
Michigan finished in a tie for third with Penn State in the USA TODAY Sports Network’s preseason media poll. The Wolverines did not receive any first-place votes.
Big Ten predicted order of finish
- 1. Ohio State (8 first place votes)
- 2. Oregon (5 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