Cleveland.com released its 2024 preseason Big Ten poll results on Monday. The polled media picked Iowa to finish fifth out of 18 teams in the conference this season.

Ohio State was the run-away favorite to win the conference in 2024, receiving 21 first-place votes. Oregon, one of the Big Ten's first-year members, was the lone other program to receive first-place votes, tallying six.

The remainder of the poll finished as follows:

1) Ohio St (21)
2) Oregon (6)
3) Penn State
4) Michigan
5) Iowa
6) USC
7) Wisconsin
8) Nebraska
9) Rutgers
10) Washington
11) Maryland
12) Minnesota
13) Illinois
14) Northwestern
15) UCLA
16) Michigan State
17) Indiana
18) Purdue

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With the elimination of the East and West Divisions after the 2023 season, the exact finish by each team becomes even more important. The top two teams in the Big Ten standings will play in the conference championship game in Indianapolis, rather than the winner of each division. This change could make it much more difficult for the Hawkeyes to find themselves in the title game come December.

However, Iowa's expected lighter load in terms of the schedule makes things a bit easier on Kirk Ferentz and company, as the Hawkeyes are predicted to be favorites in all but one game this fall (at Ohio State, October 5).

Iowa's home-field advantage gives them an added edge as well, as six of seven games scheduled to be played at Kinnick Stadium this fall have already sold out.

The USA Today/Gannett preseason Big Ten poll results were also released today, with Iowa placing sixth. The top eight in this media preseason prediction poll were very similar to the results in the Cleveland.com poll as well:

1) Ohio State (8 first place votes)
2) Oregon (5 first place votes)
t-3) Michigan
t-3) Penn State
5) USC
6) Iowa
7) Wisconsin
8) Nebraska

Iowa is slated to play only one of the teams picked in the top 5-6 in the preseason standings in the regular season, although that one team is the heavy favorite to win the league: Ohio State. Five of the teams on Iowa's regular season schedule were picked to finish in the bottom half of the standings in both preseason polls: Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, UCLA, and Northwestern.