J.T. Barrett, Jabrill Peppers

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett (left) and Michigan linebacker Jabrill Peppers (right) were named the preseason Big Ten players of the year in voting organized by cleveland.com.

(Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer/AP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- They'll see each other on Nov. 26 and by then, we should know if Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett and Michigan linebacker Jabrill Peppers really are the best offensive and defensive players in the Big Ten.

They were voted that way in preseason balloting from 39 Big Ten writers organized by cleveland.com as part of the unofficially/official preseason Big Ten media poll.

The conference itself will do nothing more than release a list of 10 players to watch on Monday when Big Ten media days begin in Chicago, yet the Big Ten will hand out official player of the year awards in December.

So we got a jump on that.

Barrett, a redshirt junior, was the easy pick on the offensive side, earning 34 of 39 first-place votes to finish well ahead of the second choice, Penn State sophomore running back Saquon Barkley. Iowa senior quarterback C.J. Beathard was the clear choice for third.

Defensively, the race was closer. Iowa senior cornerback Desmond King, a first-team All-American last year, received the most first-place votes, with 16. But Peppers, making the move to linebacker after playing in the secondary last season, received 11 second-place votes to go with his 13 first-place votes. So he edged out King, who got just three second-place votes, by five points.

Four other defensive players received solid voting support and at least two first-place votes - Michigan State lineman Malik McDowell, Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan, Michigan cornerback Jourdan Lewis and Northwestern linebacker Anthony Walker Jr.

Though the six-year-old cleveland.com poll has done a terrible job picking conference champs, with the 39 writers going with Ohio State this year, the player balloting has gone better.

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott was the offensive preseason choice last year and won, while Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa was the defensive preseason choice last year. Penn State's Carl Nassib won the postseason defensive player award, but Bosa was named the best defensive lineman.

Here are the results. Voters were asked for a top three, with three points awarded for a first-place vote, two for second and one for third.

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett, 110 (34)

2. Penn State RB Saquon Barkley, 48 (3)

3. Iowa QB C.J. Beathard, 33

4. Northwestern RB Justin Jackson, 11

5. Wisconsin RB Corey Clement, 9

6. Michigan TE Jake Butt, 5 (1)

6. Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong, 5

8. Indiana G Dan Feeney, 4 (1)

9. Michigan State RB L.J. Scott, 3

10. Michigan WR Jehu Chesson, 3

11. Ohio State C Pat Elflein, 2

12. Ohio State H-back Curtis Samuel, 1

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

1. Michigan LB Jabrill Peppers, 65 (13)

2. Iowa CB Desmond King, 60 (16)

3. Michigan State DL Malik McDowell, 35 (4)

4. Ohio State LB Raekwon McMillan, 33 (2)

5. Michigan CB Jourdan Lewis, 21 (2)

6. Northwestern LB Anthony Walker Jr., 18 (2)

7. Michigan DE Chris Wormley, 1

8. Maryland CB William Likely, 1