Michigan falls in college football expert's preseason Big 10 poll

The annual Big Ten conference media poll conducted by the Kings of the North YouTube channel was released Monday morning ahead of Big Ten media week in Indianapolis, Indiana. The defending national champions, Michigan Wolverines, placed fourth behind Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State.

The poll, sanctioned and put together by Doug Lesmerises every year since 2011, consisted of 33 media members from across the Big Ten landscape. They were asked to rank the 18 teams in the conference by standing projection, give conference championship predictions, and give out other player awards such as offensive and defensive player of the year.

After winning the conference the last three seasons and going on a run to a national championship last season, Michigan's ranking is lower than what it has become accustomed to over the last several seasons.

Michigan is 29-1 over the last three seasons in conference play, a stretch that has seen the program win 25 in a row. No team has been more dominant in the Big Ten than Michigan in recent years.

However, this ranking should come as no surprise, as the team went through multiple personnel changes this offseason, starting at the top when head coach Jim Harbaugh departed for the Los Angeles Chargers head coaching job. Alongside Harbaugh's departure, the team lost several marquee talent from the national championship roster, most notably quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum, to the NFL Draft.

Sherrone Moore, who took over in the middle of last season during Jim Harbaugh’s three-game suspension for sign stealing, was named head coach shortly after Harbaugh departed for the NFL. With an unproven first-year head coach combined with the departure of key players at valued positions, Michigan is not a popular pick to repeat this season or even make the expanded 12-team College Football Playoffs.

Michigan is set to face Texas at home on September 7th and has dates with Oregon at home (Nov. 2) and Ohio State in Columbus (Nov. 30) towards the end of the season that could be crucial games for traction in the standings.