I wasn't able to find all of the B1G preseason media polls from the last 5 years (missing 20-21, for whatever reason I can't find it).
However, you were nearly correct:
2019-20 picked 7th and finished 4th
2020-21 can't find the poll but finished 2nd (Michigan was given the reg season conf title despite not playing all conf games)
2021-22 picked 4th and finished 1st
2022-23 picked 2nd and finished 7th
2023-24 picked 4th and finished 2nd
Also, re: "firm consensus belief that we have been regularly and systematically proving national & conf level objective prognostications wrong)-- I also am unsure if you just have 90% of the members here blocked or something, because I have the opposite experience here.
To me, this is a fun topic so I spent a little bit time digging out the T-rank at preseason and at the end of the regular season (till the game before the playoff) for a comparison. I exclude the NCAA tournament games b/c I think it has a lot to do with the draws.
T-rank Preseason End of the regular season (T-rank/standing)
2023-24 28 (3rd B1G) 12 (2nd B1G / 2nd B1G)
2022-23 14 (2nd B1G) 46 (8th B1G / 5th B1G)
2021-22 5 (1th B1G) 16 (3rd B1G / 1th B1G)
2020-21 Can't find it 4 (1th B1G / 2nd B1G)
2019-20 14 (4th B1G) 29 (6th B1G / 4th B1G)
If you compare the preseason T-rank B1G standing with the end-of-the-season real B1G standing, T-rank is relatively accurate (except for 22-23 and we know why). It will be more accurate once we are done recruiting this year. But still I think with the expansion and all the new players plus the European player, this year is more like a crap shoot. If you want my crystal ball, I think we finish toward the middle of the B1G.
