Wisconsin ranked no. 17 in only poll that matters, preseason SB Nation FanPulse

We’re just a few short weeks away from real live football, and boy is it glorious. The pageantry and tradition of the great game of college football is within reach. Experts and fans alike are clamoring for their team, disavowing others, and arguing online about which teams will be standing at the end. It’s what makes the sport so great.

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Today SB Nation released their preseason poll for the upcoming college football season. Defending national champion Clemson took the no. 1 spot on every blog’s ballot except Alabama’s and...Rutgers’ (????). Don’t worry, the Crimson Tide came in second with Georgia and Oklahoma rounding out the initial top four.

Our beloved Big Ten made their first appearance as Ohio State and Michigan came in at no. 5 and no. 6 respectively.

Those are all fine and dandy, but here at B5Q we love us some Big Ten West. The division that prides itself on running the football, eating flavored meats and participating in way too much tailgating before an 11 a.m. kickoff. The Big Ten West was well represented, and the Badgers led the charge of the division finishing at no. 17 in the initial poll nationwide. Iowa wasn’t far behind at no. 19. Northwestern and Nebraska also claimed a spot coming in at no. 22 and no. 24, respectively.

Us Wisconsin fans, of course, rated our Badgers higher than the national polls did, coming in at 15th. We also showed a little love to our rivals, ranking Iowa 19th, Northwestern 20th and Nebraska 24th.

Iowa fans did much of the same as they ranked the Hawkeyes 14th and dropped the Badgers to 18th. They also showed respect to Northwestern and Nebraska ranking them 21st and 24th overall.

The Axe Stealing Rats of Minnesota, as they are currently known, didn’t speak so kindly of Wisconsin (surprise, surprise) ranking the Badgers 22nd. Apparently hogging the greatest trophy in college football for 14 years rubbed the Gophers the wrong way. They also practiced some self-care and ranked themselves 25th. Self-obsessed if you ask me. Minnesota fans also showed love to Iowa at 18th, but couldn’t find room for the fourth member of the Quadrangle of Hate, Nebraska, and left them off entirely.

Speaking of Nebraska, the Huskers actually ranked each Big Ten counterpart pretty reasonably, which came as a surprise to me. Most Nebraska fans I know have already penciled in a trip to Indy, so the rationality was welcoming. Husker fans ranked Wisconsin 17th, themselves 19th and Iowa 20th.

Our counterparts out east seemed to agree with the national poll as Maryland fans ranked the Badgers 17th, Michigan slotted UW 15th and Michigan State ranked Wisconsin 18th. Ohio State and Penn State supporters agreed with the national average and put Wisconsin at no. 17 in their respective rankings.

Overall, the Big Ten teams showed their loyalty to the conference despite not liking each other within it. Why? Because we’d rather root for our enemies than give those darn SEC homers any credit! The polls among Big Ten fans all ran along similar lines in the preseason, but it will be interesting to see how that changes as the season goes on. Everyone gets along now, but when games get going that should all change.

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