Where Maryland football lands in unofficial Big Ten football preseason media poll

Ahmed Ghafir
Jul 21
3 min read

Ahead of Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas this week, Maryland football was picked to finish 16th in the 2025 Big Ten standings in the unofficial preseason media poll released by both Cleveland.com and KOTN released on Monday morning.

Penn State, who will not face Maryland until 2026, was the consensus media pick to win the Big Ten just ahead of Ohio State with Oregon rounding out the top three. Maryland avoids all three teams this upcoming fall, but will host two of the three teams ranked inside the top six with Michigan and Indiana headed to SECU Stadium in November while Maryland travels to Illinois, likely the highest-ranked preseason team, in November.

Maryland also didn't place anyone on either the Big Ten Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year with Buckeye receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs tabbed as the consensus picks.

Full preseason picks from both outlets:

Cleveland.com

Big Ten Predicted Order of Finish

Penn State (11 first-place votes)
Ohio State (10)
Oregon (2)
Illinois
Michigan
Indiana
Iowa
Nebraska
USC
Washington
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan State
Rutgers
UCLA
Maryland
Northwestern
Purdue

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, points (first)

Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State, 66 (21)

Drew Allar, QB, Penn State, 38 (4)

Nicholas Singleton, RB, Penn State, 15

Makhi Hughes, RB Oregon, 5

Kaytron Allen, RB Penn State, 4

Luke Altmyer, QB Illinois, 3

Dante Moore, QB Oregon, 2

Mark Gronowski, QB Iowa, 2

Elijah Sarratt, WR Indiana, 2

Julian Sayin, QB Ohio State, 2

Justice Haynes, RB Michigan, 2

Logan Jones, OC Iowa, 1

Denzel Boston, WR Washington, 1

Fernando Mendoza, QB Indiana, 1

Jonah Coleman, RB Washington, 1

Nico Iamaleava, QB UCLA, 1

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

Caleb Downs, Ohio State SAF, 72 (21)

Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State DE , 17 (1)

Dillon Thieneman, Oregon SAF, 15 (1)

Matayo Uiagalelei, Oregon DE, 14

Mikail Kamara, Indiana DE, 12 (2)

Gabe Jacas, Illinois LB, 8

Koi Perich, Minnesota SAF, 5

Sonny Styles, Ohio State LB, 4

Zane Durant, Penn State DT, 2

Jaishawn Barham, Michigan LB, 2

Aiden Fisher, Indiana LB, 1

Ernest Hausmann, Michigan LB, 1

Coach of the Year

James Franklin, Penn State, 10

Bret Bielema, Illinois, 9

Ryan Day, Ohio State, 3

Sherrone Moore, Michigan, 2

Dan Lanning, Oregon, 1

KOTN

Big Ten Predicted Order of Finish

Penn State (35 first-place votes)
Ohio State (18)
Oregon (1)
Illinois
Michigan
Indiana
USC
Nebraska
Iowa
Washington
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan State
UCLA
Rutgers
Maryland
Northwestern
Purdue

Predicted Big Ten championship game winner

Penn State: 30

Ohio State: 22

Oregon: 2

Predicted Big Ten championship game matchups

Penn State over Ohio State: 23

Ohio State over Penn State: 20

Penn State over Oregon: 4

Penn State over Illinois: 2

Penn State over Michigan: 1

Ohio State over Oregon: 1

Ohio State over Michigan: 1

Oregon over Penn State: 1

Oregon over Ohio State: 1

How many Big Ten teams will make the playoff?

4 – 65%

3 – 35%

5 – or more 0%

2 – or fewer 0%

Defensive Player of the Year voting

1. Caleb Downs (43 first-place votes), 140 points

2. Dani Dennis-Sutton (2), 34

3. Matayo Uiagalelei (2), 31

4. Dillon Thieneman, 22

5. Mikail Kamara (1), 20

6. Koi Perich (1), 16

7. Gabe Jacas, 7

T8. Xavier Scott (1), 6

T8. Zane Durant, 6

10. Jaishawn Barham, 4

11. Derrick Moore, 3

T12. Bryce Boettcher, 2

T12. Sonny Styles, 2

T12. Aiden Fisher, 2

T12. D'Angelo Ponds, 2

T16. Rayshaun Benny, 1

T16. Ernest Hausmann, 1

T16. Kamari Ramsey, 1

Offensive Player of the Year voting

1. Jeremiah Smith (39 first-place votes), 137 points

2. Drew Allar (10), 77

3. Nick Singleton (1), 40

4. Makhi Hughes, 14

5. Fernando Mendoza, 7

6. Luke Altmyer, 5

7. Julian Sayin, 4

T8. Elijah Sarratt, 3

T8. Darius Taylor, 3

T10. Ja'Kobi Lane, 2

T10. Jonah Coleman, 2

T10 Trebor Pena, 2

T13. Dylan Raiola, 1

T13. Nico Iamaleava, 1

T13. Denzel Boston, 1

T13. Demond Williams Jr. 1

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