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Hammerin’ the B1G: 5 key takeaways from Day 1 of Big Ten Media Days
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Welcome one and all to the start of talking season within the Big Ten. At long last, attention is building for the 2024 season and all the hype — and changes — that come with it.
In Indianapolis, commissioner Tony Petitti kicked off the proceedings while hammering on the strength, depth and unprecedented exposure for the league through the media rights deal. This fall, a full portfolio of games will appear across 3 broadcast networks with action from coast to coast.
Petitti was followed by 6 head coaches on Day 1 of media days with the event covering 3 days this year. The rest of the head coaches will take the podium across Wednesday and Thursday from Lucas Oil Stadium.
For now, let’s take a trip back through the Day 1 speakers with 5 key takeaways from Tuesday:
Don’t expect another round of expansion any time soon
The dust has not even fully settled from the latest round of groundbreaking conference realignment before thoughts of further movement have come up. That’s largely related to Florida State filing a lawsuit against the ACC and trying to bully its way out of the league, though there appears to be a growing sense the Seminoles will not leave the league before 2025.
States: MD, MA, OH, NY, AZ, MI, KS, KY, TN, PA, NJ, VA, CO, IL, MI, WV, IA, WY, IN
GET THE APPTony Petitti was asked about the situation in the ACC while at the podium, and he declared the B1G is focused on its now 18 member institutions. Most notably, Petitti declared it is important “to get this conference right.”
“With regard to the second part of your question about the future, look, we’re focused on the 18 right now. That’s what we’re focused on,” said Petitti. “We had to do a lot of work. A lot of work had been done to integrate USC, UCLA. We started that work over immediately when we added Oregon and Washington. I think we’re really comfortable where we are.
“We’ve got to get this conference right, and that’s what our focus is.”
Circumstances can always change, say if the ACC suddenly implodes and ceases to exist. But for now, that seems unlikely, and the B1G is unlikely to hunt additional membership any time soon.
The B1G Championship could be moving
With the West Coast joining the mix of Midwest and East Coast programs, Petitti was asked about the potential of future B1G Championships outside of the traditional footprint. Every version of the B1G Championship Game in football has been played in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, and the men’s basketball tournament has been traditionally hosted at various venues across the Midwest.
The immediate future keeps the football title game in Indy for the next 4 seasons, a decision Petitti described as “the right thing to do.” But beyond that, the commissioner left the door open to move future championships and league tournaments at venues across the country.
“I think it’s important to make sure that markets around the country get to experience Big Ten championships. It’s a really good way to connect the conference,” described Petitti. “I think over time you’ll start to see the geographic footprint expand, keeping in mind competitive issues.”
Greg Schiano embraces elite goals for Rutgers
Greg Schiano is entering his 5th season since returning to the program and coming off a 7-6 record in Year 4. That is actually one year ahead of schedule compared to Schiano’s first tenure with the Scarlet Knights. Schiano would go 7-5 in 2005 with a bowl appearance before the first 11-win season for the program since the 1970s in 2006.
What should fans expect this fall? A favorable schedule and a host of key returners elevates what was already a positive ceiling in 2024, but Schiano made his goals clear on Tuesday.
He is back at Rutgers with one goal in mind:
“Look forward to continuing to build to get to a point where we are in the mix for the championship. That’s what we’re building for,” claimed Schiano. “I didn’t come out of retirement to go to a bowl game. I came out of retirement to win a championship at Rutgers. Hopefully we’ll do that.”
Ryan Walters gifted a large ‘chip on the shoulder’
Ryan Walters had his first taste of being a head coach last season. Purdue went 4-8 overall in what proved to be a rough debut and transition for Walters and the Boilermakers.
Now, it’s time for Purdue to keep moving forward, but expectations are pessimistic, to say the least. In the preseason B1G media poll, Purdue finished 18 out of 18 and behind Indiana, Michigan State and UCLA.
Walters admitted on Tuesday that he tries to ignore the noise but said it’s impossible to completely avoid hearing the noise. He also said he tackled “the elephant in the room” with the Boilermakers.
“I would be naive not to address it with the team and not talk about the elephant in the room. I did mention a large chip on the shoulder of everybody in that building. 18 out of 18 is a large reason why,” Walters described.
Ultimately, motivation is only good if the team can make good on it, and the Boilermakers have plenty of issues to address to improve their record.
Expectations abound for Ryan Day, Ohio State
Will this be the year Ryan Day bursts through the ceiling and leads Ohio State to a return to glory? All signs are pointing that way with the Buckeyes holding firm with the best chance to win the conference in the latest 2024 Big Ten Championship odds. (Be sure to track the latest odds with Tradition’s DraftKings Ohio promo code.)
What will Ohio State do with those expectations? Time will tell with Day claiming the team has to rebuild every season “to get to where we need to be.” But overall, expectations are as common in Columbus as Buckeye leaf helmet stickers.
However, Day remains adamant that expectations in some way can be a distraction. Instead of focusing on the end result, Day says he wants the team to focus on building today.
“Our guys, they know what the expectation is. You’ve heard some of them say what their goals are. We’re not going to shy away from that,” said Day. “We want to win the rivalry game, be right in this stadium right here and win this Big Ten championship, win a National Championship. We know that. At the same time that can’t be our focus because that’s a distraction from where we are right now.”
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.