Nebraska football is set for a season that will go swimmingly well in the first year of the Big Ten's new 18-team superconference, according to voters in this year's Preseason Big Ten Football Poll.

Ohio State is the runaway preseason favorite. The Buckeyes are predicted to win their first conference championship since 2020 in the 14th annual preseason poll – which is comprised of local media members from each team, voters from conference-wide media outlets and national writers.

Of the 33 voters from across the league, 27 picked the Buckeyes to win it all, compared to six for Oregon.

Following Ohio State and Oregon as the consensus 1-2 finish in the Big Ten standings, Penn State is predicted to finish third, Michigan fourth and Iowa fifth in the Big Ten's first season without divisions since 2010. (The annual poll was first conducted in 2011 with Nebraska pegged as the preseason pick to win the Big Ten title.)

USC falls outside of a top-five finish with the Trojans predicted to finish sixth in their first season in the conference. Wisconsin is picked to finish seventh, and Nebraska follows as the Huskers are predicted to finish eighth in Matt Rhule's second season in the Big Ten.

Nebraska finished in a four-way tie with Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue for fourth in the West Division in 2023 as all four had an identical 3-6 conference record. If disregarding divisions, that would have netted the Huskers an eighth-place tie in the 14-team Big Ten last season along with Rutgers and those three aforementioned programs.

However, with the additions of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington creating the new 18-team conference, an eight-place finish would almost certainly mean a significant year-over-year improvement for the Huskers.

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Rutgers trails Nebraska as the pick to finish ninth, and Washington rounds out the top 10 of preseason predictions.

In order from 11th to 18th: Maryland, Minnesota, UCLA, Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue are the other nine programs, along with Washington, predicted to finish in the bottom half of the conference.

In addition to preseason predictions for conference champion and final standings, Big Ten media voters were also asked to give their picks for Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, in addition to their matchup for the B1G title game and responses to a handful of questions related to the College Football Playoff.

See all of those selections and responses below, in addition to the ballot of Inside Nebraska publisher Zack Carpenter.

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1 – Ohio State

2 – Oregon

3 – Penn State

4 – Michigan

5 – Iowa

6 – USC

7 – Wisconsin

8 – Nebraska

9 – Rutgers

10 – Washington

11 – Maryland

12 – Minnesota

13 – UCLA

14 – Illinois

15 – Michigan State

16 – Northwestern

17 – Indiana

18 – Purdue

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Predicted champion:

Ohio State (27 votes)

Oregon (6)

Predicted B1G title game matchup:

Ohio State over Oregon (24)

Ohio State over Penn State (2)

Ohio State over Michigan (1)

Oregon over Ohio State (6)

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1 – Dillon Gabriel, Oregon QB: 83 total points (24 first-place votes)

2 – Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State RB: 39 points (4)

3 – Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State WR: 16 points

4 – Will Howard, Ohio State QB: 10 points (2)

4 – Kyle Monangai, Rutgers RB: 10 points (1)

4 – TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State RB: 10 points (1)

Others appearing on one or two ballots:

Zachariah Branch, USC WR

Donovan Edwards, Michigan RB

Miller Moss, USC QB

Tez Johnson, Oregon WR

Darius Taylor, Minnesota RB

Nick Singleton, Penn State RB

Drew Allar, Penn State QB

Kaytron Allen, Penn State RB

Dylan Raiola, Nebraska QB

Colston Loveland, Michigan TE

Note: Media members voted for 3 players (3-2-1 point scoring system) with one team voter not submitting a vote, resulting in a total of 32 first-place votes

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1 – Will Johnson, Michigan CB: 47 total points (9 first-place votes)

2 – Caleb Downs, Ohio State S: 30 points (4 first-place votes)

3 – Mason Graham, Michigan DT: 25 points (7 first-place votes)

3 – J.T. Tuimoloau, Ohio State DE: 25 points (5 first-place votes)

3 – Jay Higgins, Iowa LB: 25 points (3 first-place votes)

3 – Abdul Carter, Penn State DE: 17 points (2 first-place votes)

Other players appearing on one or two ballots:

Jack Sawyer, Ohio State DE

Sebastian Castro, Iowa CB

Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin S

Denzel Burke, Ohio State CB

Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon LB

Bear Alexander, USC DT

Dillon Thieneman, Purdue S

Note: Media members voted for 3 players (3-2-1 point scoring system) with three team voters not submitting a vote, resulting in a total of 30 first-place votes

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How many Big Ten teams will make the College Football Playoff?

3 teams (21 votes)

4 teams (10 votes)

2 teams (2 votes)

Will Ohio State make the CFP?

100% – Yes

Will Oregon make the CFP?

100% – Yes

Will Penn State make the CFP?

64% – Yes

36% – No

Will Michigan make the CFP?

52% – Yes

48% – No

Will Iowa make the CFP?

91% – No

9% – Yes

Will USC make the CFP?

100% – No

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FINAL STANDINGS:

1 – Ohio State

2 – Oregon

3 – Penn State

4 – Michigan

5 – Nebraska

6 – Iowa

7 – USC

8 – Rutgers

9 – Wisconsin

10 – Illinois

11 – Washington

12 – Minnesota

13 – Maryland

14 – Michigan State

15 – Indiana

16 – Northwestern

17 – UCLA

18 – Purdue

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BIG TEN TITLE GAME:

Ohio State over Oregon

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PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1 – Will Howard, Ohio State QB

2 – Dillon Gabriel, Oregon QB

3 – Dylan Raiola, Nebraska QB

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PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

1 – J.T. Tuimoloau, Ohio State DE

2– Abdul Carter, Penn State DE

3 – Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon LB

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BIG TEN TEAMS TO MAKE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF:

Yes – Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State

No – Iowa, Michigan, USC