Big Ten Media Day Preview: Can Indiana Silence The Doubts Again? | Others Receiving Votes

All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes.

I'm Pat 40 joined as always by Brian Fisher and Kevin Sweeney, my Sports Illustrated colleagues.

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com.

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We are at the end of talking season this week.

This is the show between SEC Media Days and Big 10 Media Days.

I'm gonna be in Chicago for Big 10 .

Uh, Kevin Sweeney, who lives in Chicago, will be joining me for that.

And we will have uh plenty of content from that uh on SI.

com as we go.

Uh, before we get into talking all things Big 10 and some look back at SEC guys, uh, some news Monday morning that, uh, Stanford football players, uh, have a Uh, established the first ever chapter of the College Football Players Association in a move intended to create a foundation for eventual unionization and collective bargaining.

That hit early Monday morning.

This is the latest attempt to unionize in college football.

We've been down this road several times before without ever actually getting there.

Northwestern, back, gosh, over 10 years ago, got to the point of, uh, actually, like, They voted, they had, they had like union cards and everything, uh, but the NLRB National Labor Relations Board overturned a decision that would have allowed the players to form a union.

Last year , a USC union, unionization effort uh was disbanded, as was one at Dartmouth in basketball.

So this is the next, I guess, iteration.

Uh, these things tend to be more, uh, popular, the attempts to do so with, um, private schools and public.

But, uh, where this is going, we'll find out.

My quick thought here, and I'll get you guys, I, I, I'm not sure you, why, why, why now?

Uh, it seems to me like the players have it pretty good.

I'm not sure you want to unionize and perhaps have uh more structure and curtail.

Uh, some of your rampant freedom at the moment , which I think a, a, a collectively bargained agreement with with universities would do.

Uh, you can transfer whenever the heck you want, you can make whatever the heck you can make.

Uh, I, I just don't see it as being a, a, a profound need right now.

This is a solution in search of a problem.

If I'm, if I'm a player.

If I'm a university, I might say, hey, you know what, this is eventually the way we want to go, although they're terrified of any possibility of players becoming employees, but I'm a little bit perplexed why, at this point, if, if the Senate bill, like if it were on the precipice of being passed, Maybe I could understand this.

But as it is right now, I'm a little bit confused by the need for this.

Um, Brian, you, any quick thoughts on that?

Well, you know, kudos to Stanford for doing something at, uh, like 4 a.m. local on, on Monday morning.

Like if, if you had to pick a university to, to do something, uh, like that, uh, it would definitely be Stanford.

Um, you know, look, I, I, I think this has been brewing in the background from both the players' side and the university side, like, I , I, I think I've heard more, let's, let's collectively bargain.

Let's go down this road from athletic directors, commissioners, etc.

etc.

from the, the entire college, uh, sports apparatus, if you will, um, probably the last, you know, 3 or 4 months than, than I have in.

Uh, maybe the 6 months before that or, or, or the last 10 years, you know, before that, um, you know, like there does seem to be like, hey, if Congress does not get the, get this over the, over, over the, the precipice in terms of uh the actual bill, we're, we're gonna have to do something.

And, um, you know, I think the threats of the SEC breakaway and all this, this other talk, like, I, I think that's, that's, that's one avenue certainly for, uh, creating your own rules and, and focusing on that, but like, I, I do feel like there's a, a bit of a groundswell in terms of like, let's actually.

to explore this idea.

And, you know, kudos to Stanford and their athletes to say, all right, we're, we're gonna take the first step.

And I didn't expect that from the player side, like you, like you just mentioned, like there are some, some certain restrictions that you, you expect to say, all right, that may not be great for a number of athletes, but like, uh, you know, those, the Stanford Cats are, are a little bit of a, a different deal in terms of their outlook on life and, uh, why, why they chose that school in, in, in particular.

Uh, so I, I'm probably not surprised by that, uh, fact, but Um, you know, I think this is something that, let's face it, we're, we're gonna have to deal with at some point in college athletics, you know, the entire unionization push is going to have to come, uh, at some point, and, uh, I think this is probably another one of those, um, you know, kind of first steps, if, if you will.

Uh, we'll we'll see if it gets over the line.

We've had these kind of false starts before, uh, maybe this, this does lead to something, but I do feel like there's, uh, maybe more of a, a groundswell in terms of actually getting over the, over the hump and, and exploring things, um, probably more so than At any point in college athletics history.

Yeah, I appreciated that they didn't seem to make any grandiose promises that this, this was not framed as, well, college football is forever changed because the private school kids in in California decided they wanted to have a union, cause let's be real here, like, The reason that, you know, there hasn't been a more rapid unionization effort, I think, for one, is that , you know, there's questions of why would the players want it, and there's also a question of, is it even legal?

Uh, there's a lot, there's a, there's a lot that would come with trying to collectively bargain in a lot of the SEC footprint, for instance, like, they, these are not easy questions to solve.

Uh, it's one of the reasons that I get frustrated when I hear people say, oh, Well, you know, none of these issues will be solved until we just collectively bargain.

So number 1, the administrators can create the bargaining unit.

That's not really how that works.

And number 2, as though it wouldn't take its own potential congressional effort or work around through different loopholes to pull off.

This is not an easy thing.

It is easier probably at Stanford than it is in a lot of places, and I think it's a good thing for, uh, for, for those athletes to take that first step and kind of see, see, see how it's received, uh, again, see how it's received potentially by an NLRB if they make a push uh to, to be formally uh unionized.

I know there was a, a mention of this that for now, their plan was to be a fraternity of Sorts, that their, their, their goal was not, uh, like, all right, we're, we're, we're showing up at the doorstep of Stanford next week with a, a bunch of demands about, like, back pay or whatever, like, that, that is not the, the expectation here.

So, um, where they go from here, I think is, is, is probably the more operative question, but, uh, yeah, if it was gonna start somewhere, Stanford, a logical place, and, yeah, particularly as the Protect College Sports Act sits on the, uh, sits on the sidelines or, or not quite, but that doesn't, doesn't, doesn't, seems, seems like it's on 4th down, if nothing else, uh, makes sense that there's maybe some movement, otherwise, and maybe this is a good time for it in a lot of ways.

I, I know, Pat, I, I, I agree with your framing it, like, yeah, I don't know why the players would want this now, but this also might be the time that administrators are most willing to talk, and if that's, if that's the case, then maybe it is the right time, even if it, even if it does give away an ounce of the power that the players currently have in the current system.

Yeah, I, I mean, I think that, there are certainly some administrators would be like, oh really?

Good.

Let's, let's go.

Let's sit down and, and see if this thing can actually work because it'll be to our advantage.

Uh, Tennessee athletic director Danny White's been one of the most vocal proponents of a eventual collective bargaining mechanism.

Uh, so there are, there are definitely people within the athletic establishment who would welcome such a thing.

But As you were saying, Kevin, that, I mean, the, the number of complications along the way to this thing ever actually happening are, are many.

So, you know, it's significant that a, a group of players at the school have taken this step and said, you know, we wanted, we want to at least begin the process of doing this.

Uh, that shouldn't be dismissed, but Yeah.

Is it legal?

I mean, it's one thing, again, Stanford, think about who we talked about, Stanford right now, previously, USC, Dartmouth, Northwestern, all private schools.

Let's see this thing fly at Alabama and Auburn, and Georgia, and LSU and Mississippi.

Uh, uh, as you mentioned, the, the, the legality of such a thing could be heavily in question down there, not, not to mention the, the level of pushback, uh, against the potential unionization.

So, uh , this, this may not mean that this is the beginning of a national college football players union.

There's, there are efforts being attempted to make that happen.

There's certainly been more discussions, as Brian said, that, that we may be Closer to something like this happening than ever, but that doesn't mean it's happening.

Just like the uh Senate bill, as we're closer than having a, closer to having a congressional bill than ever, but that doesn't mean we're having a bill.

As a matter of fact, we're probably not at this stage, having a bill.

But we'll see where this thing goes, uh, going forward.

But that's our, uh, that's our off the field minute.

Let's, uh, let's get back to on the field.

We're gonna talk, we're gonna do a little Big 10 preview work, guys.

Uh, and if we're gonna talk about the Big 10, we have got To start with Indiana, because Indiana, I believe, has broken the brains of several fan bases over the last two years as the losing his program in FBS has become an absolute power.

11-2 and Kurt Cignnetti's first year, made the playoffs, 16-0, obviously, last year, won the national championship, uh, and some notable recruiting successes, and this is where I think people have now started to freak out.

Because the, the dismissals of Indiana, which were really strange to begin with, like, it didn't actually happen that they went 16-0, well within the framework of the rules, uh, but, oh, they're a bunch of 23-year-olds, not really true.

They were a veteran team, they had a lot of old guys, but they were not a bunch of 23-year-olds.

Uh, secondly, Mark Cuban just, just money whipped everybody.

Not true.

Maybe the somewhat the case now that they are, they are among the, uh, you know, top, I don't know , 3rd at least, probably in payroll, but, but the, the rationalizations.

Running up against the fact they signed, or they, they got a commitment from a national top 10 player, wide receiver from Indianapolis, who had been considering all the places that five-star receivers usually go, and chose IU to become its first five-star high school recruit.

Uh, then they've, they've locked up by, well, they got a commitment, nobody's ever locked up too early, but a 2028 quarterback, Uh, committed to them, highly touted.

So, Indiana has totally upset the way people are accustomed to looking at the sport.

What are your expectations, guys, for the Hoosiers in 2026?

Definitely some turnover, but also a lot of retention.

And how much heat should they take for continuing to have a bad out of conference schedule now that they're good?

Brian, go ahead.

Well, I'll address that latter point, um, you know, like, look, these, these games are scheduled, you know, you know, decades in, in advance at, at times.

So like it can be tough to kind of do the, do the little changeover in terms of actually uh ramping up the, uh, conference opponent out of conference opponents, and look, you know, to, to Indiana's credit, like they, they have been scheduling and, you know, in terms of that mindset of like, hey, we, we need all three of those wins in order to just get to a bowl, where I expectations have obviously changed there in Bloomington.

And, and, and rightfully so.

I mean, I, I think this is a team when, when you look at the season, uh, going into it, uh, like I, I, I expect them to be in the playoffs.

I expect them to contend for a national title, which is strange to say about the Indiana side , and, and it still takes a little getting used to, like you, you mentioned there, Pat.

I, I mean, Um, you know, I, I think in terms of their replacements that they brought in, uh, for some of their key stars from last year, uh, what they have coming back, I mean, to, to have, you know, a, a wide receiver, you can count on, to have a left tackle that, uh, you know, could, could be a, you know, day one or two, pick if, if he plays as well as he did last year.

Like this is a, a team that, let's, let's face it, in terms of the Big 10, uh, is, is going to be considered.

Uh, one of the favorites to make it back to Indianapolis and, and potentially win the conference.

Like that's, that's where Indiana is at.

And that's uh, uh, you got to give a lot of credit to Kurt Cignettti, but, uh, also to the players that he's brought in.

Like this is a, a team when you talk about Josh Hoover coming in at quarterback, like, uh, they have all the pieces to make another run.

And, um, you know, I'm, I , I'm sure that at some point, because these The Schedule is much more difficult.

I mean, you know, especially you kind of circle that back to back with Ohio State and Michigan, you know , in, in back to back weeks.

Maybe it's not necessarily an undefeated season and going 16-0, but, um, in terms of actually doing some damage in, in the college football landscape, uh, Indiana is, is a force to be reckoned with, which is, uh, uh, certainly a, a change for past years and something that they, Um, you know, rightfully have earned, uh, from not only their, their last year, but I think the last two years under Kurt Signettti, this is where the program is at, you know, they are competing for Big 10 and national titles, and, uh, that is gonna be on a regular basis until proven otherwise.

Yeah, I think they'll be in the playoff conversation for sure.

Um, I, I do worry a little bit about the the turnovers with Josh Hoover, um, you know, when I think about what made them so special last year, it was just like, they never made a mistake, like, playing against them was so challenging because you felt like if you let go of the rope for a second, they were gonna take advantage, and you were not going to get that same opportunity.

And, you know, Josh Hoover's a little bit different style of quarterback, he's a little more of a gunslinger.

Part of that system stuff, right?

You know, TCU's system allowed him a ton of freedom and in Indiana, like, you know, they're gonna simplify things and allow him to make, make reads and make decisions and You know, I know Sig is not gonna allow him to just turn the ball over freely, like that, that, that, that will not be OK, that has not been OK in spring ball, it will not be OK in fall camp, uh, but I do worry about that, and then longer term, right?

And this probably goes more beyond this year than anything, um, cause I think this year, you know, I think there's still a, a good nucleus of the guys who've been, been a part of the program, held the standard.

I, I do wonder about The shift in having guys that have been the anointed ones coming up in their high school journeys, right?

Like the difference in mindset that it will take to coach those guys, um, and I think if anyone is able to, to, to kind of move guys, it will be Kurt Zigngnetti, but that, that is a different challenge, and it's something that a lot of coaches, uh, in football, uh, obviously in basketball as well, like, yeah, like it it it's, it's just a different job to, to coach the guy who Came in with everything expected of him, um, that, that, that, that still feels like, hey, like, I'm doing you a service being here.

Um, I, I, I wonder about that as they win these high profile recruiting battles out of high school that, that they haven't ever won before.

Um, I , I, I think, I think they'll be able to make it work, and I think, you know, one of the great, I, I, I argue, I'd argue one of the great wins of the first two years of the Signetti era and probably before, uh, he was a Indiana, one of the things he was so great at is evaluating the person and figuring out, are these the people that I can coach, um, and I imagine he'll still be able to do that with with high school kids, but it's harder, and I think that those are like the little areas of complacency that that could allow this, you know, budding dynasty to falter a little bit.

Yeah, I mean, you guys' points are completely valid, that it , it, it's very hard to climb up to the top, but it's also very hard to stay at the top, and especially when your formula for getting the top involved.

Uh, as you alluded to, a complete, you know, underdog mentality and diamonds in the rough, and, uh, finding the, the super hungry guys that were overlooked elsewhere because they were an inch or two shorter or a step or two slower, and turning them into a phenomenal cohesive unit.

That, that gets harder, uh, as you start recruiting a different layer, I guess, of, of athlete and player and prospect.

So, that's, that's gonna be fascinating to me.

Uh, Sig, I, I, he is wired a certain way.

And I don't think that's changing at age 65.

And so, I think you have to play his way, you have to show up and practice his way.

You gotta buy into his things.

I mean, Nick Marsh, the receiver they brought in from Michigan State, rather notably showed up at spring practice wearing gold cleats.

And Sig, as he said, that the press conference afterwards, said he learned what it's like to get his ass ripped.

Uh, and, you know, that sort of thing, that ain't gonna fly.

Now, still, that doesn't mean It doesn't mean you're a service academy, and it doesn't mean you're not going to.

Possibly make some exceptions, uh, small exceptions to the way you operate, uh, for, for some level of players.

But, uh, how does his mentality and his way of doing things continue to go forward?

I can tell you this, I ain't picking them against them for about anything until proven otherwise, because they have so dramatically proven every single expectation about them wrong that I I'm, I'm going with that guy and the way he does things until it doesn't work.

Uh, the Josh Hoover question is really interesting.

He's, he throws 34 interceptions his first, last 3 seasons.

He does sling the ball around.

I think that is, as, as Kevin, I think you alluded to, that's part of the system that he was in.

Sonny Dykes is a little more freewheeling.

The ideal at Indiana , and you saw it as, as the season wore on last year, it was, we're gonna be pretty heavy run, and we're gonna throw it where we can succeed with it, and Uh, I don't think they want Josh Hoover throwing 40+ times a game, and if he does though, he's not gonna throw that many interceptions cause Si will lose his mind.

Uh, if you go back and look, the interception numbers, the, the pass efficiency numbers for his quarterbacks jump up from the, the, the, what they had done in the past versus what they did with Signetti, major jumps up for all of them.

This is his 4th straight year, I believe, with a new 1st year, new quarterback, new starting quarterback, the last 3, all of them, major improvements.

Uh, and a big part of that was eliminating turnovers or lessening turnovers.

His James Madison teams, his Elon teams, his IUP Division 2 teams, massive turnover margin, uh, advantages.

So, that's just the way they operate, and I think they will try to get Josh Hoover to operate within that construct, uh, or else somebody else may be playing quarterback.

So, Indiana to me continues to be the most interesting team in college football.

Uh, we will see what this edition looks like, and we'll hear from Kurt Signettti this week.

All right, uh, number 2, guys, uh, uh, when I was at SEC last week in Tampa.

Uh, John Summerall, the new coach at Florida, and Pete Golding, the new coach at Mississippi, pretty much stole the show at the podium.

I mean, they were really good.

They were interesting, they were candid, they were entertaining.

Uh, A deal was made about John Summerall like.

jokingly threatening a media member whose phone went off during a question he was asking , and that was completely misconstrued.

I was there, it was a very funny moment.

Nobody thought John Summerall was being a jerk coach.

So, let's just say that.

But I think Florida's got a more, much more interesting personality than they certainly have with Billy Napier.

Ole Miss has another interesting personality following Lane Kiffin with Pete Golding, and Golding basically just sat up there and Gave a tacit defense for tampering with everybody.

Uh , his, his reasoning actually was pretty good, made sense.

But they were fun to listen to.

Who in Chicago this week, Is going to steal the show at the podium.

Kevin, any thoughts?

It probably won't be the new coaches, maybe Bob Chesney, and everybody's excited about the UCLA roller coaster and, and everybody's in on Bob.

I saw there was a, a Bill Plasky interview, uh, he's, he's won over a key stake holder out in Los Angeles, so that was big, uh, but I don't I don't envision Kyle Whittingham or Matt Campbell being the, uh, the electric personality that that stuns at at Media Day, but I, I do think Dan Lanning will probably have some things to say.

I'm interested to see just how confident he is, right?

I, I, I, I think a lot was made about, about Sark and the way he's moved and kind of peacocked a bit, like, man, we, we've got a team here that's a little bit different now.

And when I think about the Big 10, I think of Oregon, maybe in a similar light, where, all right, we've got the quarterback, we've got the pieces defensively, maybe we have the new coordinators, but like, I, I think we got something brewing here, and uh that that would be the guy to me that I, I, I expect to have some fireworks up there.

Uh, he's always a fun guy at the podium, he's not shy about his opinions, which we always appreciate in the media, but, uh, yeah, I, I, I, I, I think we could have a Dan Lanning could have a big week.

He's, he's my stock up of the week at the Big 10 Media Day, be there for his, uh, his podium speech.

I will say this lovingly, uh, knowing a lot of the guys, like it's, it's not necessarily like the, the, the most fired up type of type of crew in terms of the Big 10, like, uh, you know, very, very straightforward for a lot of the guys, you know, definitely leans into that Midwestern ethos.

If I had to circle one guy though, in terms of towing the company line, uh, they're in the Big 10, it's definitely Brett Bielema, like if, if we, we're talking about mixing it up a little bit.

Uh, taking some shots at the SEC, like if there, there's only one guy I would go to, and that, that would be Brett.

Maybe a sneaky one, PJ Fleck, you know, depending on his caffeine intake, uh, for, for that day, like that might, uh, that might, uh, determine whether he wants to, you know, kind of go out on a limb, uh, a little bit, but, uh, those would be my two guys.

Uh, I do second Kevin.

Uh, in terms of Dan Lanning maybe saying something that that could be interesting, but like, you know, for, for the most part, like we're, we're not gonna go off script, uh, a little bit if it, if it's a Kyle Whittingham or Ryan Day or, uh, even a Kurt Signetti.

Like I'm sure some, some folks will prod Kurt a little bit, but like in terms of the actual like give and take, I, I don't think he's gonna say anything, uh, too outlandish or, or really .

Uh, you kind of jump out there in terms of the actual, uh, you know, difference-making, uh, headline grabbing, uh, type, type of comments like, uh, I, I think those are probably my two picks if I had to go with anybody, but it, it's a pretty straightforward group.

So, uh, you know, I don't think we're, we're gonna get the, uh, quite, quite the interest level in terms of some of the comments, uh, from the podium, at least there in Chicago.

One of the things that I, I find hilarious, uh, with all these coaches when they talk is they have to end their little, uh, segment with, with the little, the, whatever the, the buzz line is for their, for their fan base, you know, uh.

Um, you know, like Boomer Sooner, hook em, blah blah blah, and, uh, PJ Fleck being PJ Fleck, of course, he has to have two.

Sky Uma Row the Boat.

We'll get to hear both of those in rapid succession.

Uh, Sky Uma, of course, being the Minnesota thing, but Row the Boat being the PJ thing that he brought with him from Western Michigan.

Uh, so there's a, it's just, it's funny the way these guys are wired.

Um, as a matter of fact, Eli Drinkwitz, the Missouri coach and a certified wiseass, uh, signed off with the Missouri thing, MIZ, and then, you know, if you're talking to another Missouri person, they're supposed to say ZOU.

And he actually called me out from the podium, and said, Pat, where, where's my ZOU?

I'm like, I may be an alum coach, but I'm not here for that, sorry.

Well, you just, you keep your ZO you find your ZOU elsewhere.

Um, but the guy that I wanna hear, and he's gonna sign off with go green, and expect somebody to say, go white, is Pat Fitzgerald.

Big 10 veteran, who we haven't heard from for a couple of years, had been at Northwestern, had an extremely successful long run there, uh, left amidst, Very controversial circumstances, uh, hazing slash player, uh, abuse allegations was largely exonerated, um, and now he's back at Michigan State, a place that's certainly no stranger to controversy of its own.

But, uh, Fitz can be, I, I, I've always found him pretty interesting to talk to.

Uh, pretty cocky, um, very sure about like the direction he wants to go with the team, it seems like, and knows how to build an identity, and we'll see if he's been able to do that in a relatively short amount of time at Michigan State.

But I think he's gonna be turbocharged to get back in the game.

And I'm really looking forward to, to hearing from him, seeing what he has to say.

Uh, Brian, to, to Brian's point, I think we are gonna have, you know, a, A lot of uh pro-Big 10 propaganda, I mean, why not?

They won 3 state national championships.

Brett Bielema taking shots at, uh, at the SEC is a given.

The odds on that are 1 to 5 that that will transpire.

So, Um, I, I, I, I think it's gonna be.

Uh, a definite kind of rah rah Big 10 scene, and, uh, they've got a lot to, to be rah rah about.

I, I cannot, uh, dispute them or, or, uh, doubt them on that front.

The autopilot playoff program, uh, of the, of today and the next 5 years, we, we, we've kind of got ourselves now in a 12-team playoff format.

Who is going to be there with, like, basically every year.

Uh, I think that there are A few choices for this.

Um, I've got Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Texas, Notre Dame.

Maybe Indiana, I don't know.

Uh, I'm gonna start here, but I, the, the team that I think is most set up to be there like forever.

I'm gonna say .

Ohio State.

I think that the Buckeyes have incredible recruiting momentum, even after losing Brian Hartline, their ace wide receiver recruiter, they have been on fire in that area.

And, uh, as long as Ryan Day is the coach there, and I think Ryan Day is much more wired still to the, to college than the NFL.

May still eventually wanna take a look at that, but he's relatively young.

They're recruiting at a super high level.

I agree in general with the premise that the SEC is deeper, and then you, you know, therefore, the scheduling schedule is maybe a little bit tougher.

And so, If you're at Ohio State, if you're at Michigan, if you're at Penn State, if you're at Oregon, maybe if, if you're at Indiana, there's just a few weeks out of the year where it's just a little easier path uh to get where you wanna go, which is the playoffs.

And so I can see Ohio State like being in the playoffs every year for the rest of my life.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe not.

But Kevin, who you got?

I think, uh, it's a great choice.

Uh, the, the one that I would point out is Notre Dame, and part of it is, as you said, recruiting momentum for Ohio State.

Notre Dame's got some, some pretty darn big recruiting momentum themselves.

I mean, I'm looking at their class right now for 27.

5-star tackle, 5-star edge, top 50 tackle, top 50, big, big boy from Chicago in the middle defensively, like that, that, that's, that's exactly how you start building these, these dynasty or close teams that are in, in the playoffs every year in the mix.

Every year , and Notre Dame controls the schedule, right?

That, that, that is a huge part of this, right ?

Ohio State eventually will run into it.

Um, Georgia will eventually run into it.

We've talked about some of these, these slates, like, there, there will be a year where you look up and you're like, man, we got the short end of the straw, like, Notre Dame, yeah, like, there , there's some schedules coming up later in the 2020s, you know, I, I know they had Texas, I think in 208 and 2929, Alabama in 29 and 23,930, Indiana in 130 and 1931, like, there, there are some, some, some beasts coming, but We've talked about this, I don't see a path they're not into this year.

Next year, the schedule looks largely the same unless Alex Goli really gets Auburn Rocket, and that's a, that's a home game.

Year after that, yeah, they add Texas, but I don't know, man, like, if, if the, if the job for Notre Dame is to beat up on the bottom half of the Power 4, and, and then have an automatic path as long as you're a top 12 team .

I have a hard time seeing when they're not gonna be that, because they're recruiting at such a high level.

Freeman's a phenomenal coach, uh, you know, the quarterback thing, I, I think they'll have incredible momentum off of Carr to recruit the next guy.

Uh, they've now done it a handful of times, both in the portal and in high school, like, I, I, I think, I think Notre Dame is in prime position moving forward.

Well, we did see last year, you know, like the, the issues that Notre Dame is, is gonna face in terms of the actual, uh, making the playoffs and and kind of getting over the hump, you'll lose the wrong game, uh, or, or two, you know, you might have some issues there with the committee in, in a 12 team format.

I, I, I think the, the automatic answer is Ohio State.

I mean, they have had, you know, one bad season in, in 30+ years, you know, right?

Like this is, this is a program that, you know , to, to Pat's, uh, Pat's point, it's on autopilot, right?

You know, it's like the, the , the.

Uh, sheer amount of you can count on it that, that comes out of, uh, Columbus there is , is amazing and like, you know, that's a credit to the, the program itself, you know, I, I think, yes, you know, Ryan Day is an excellent coach, uh, you know, he finds the right coordinators, we'll see, uh, you know, how, how they can overcome maybe their, uh, their best recruiter and, and, uh, certainly one of their best talent developers in terms of their Wide receiver coach taking the USF job.

Um, you know, I, I think they have a great personnel department, like they, they have the money to spend.

Uh, they're regularly going to be, uh, amongst one of the, uh, you know, top, uh, roster, uh, you know, in terms of the actual roster management, not only in terms of talent, but in terms of actually spending, uh, which is going to be a, uh, you know, pretending a lot of success there in Columbus.

So.

I, I, I think it's Ohio State in terms of like being automatic and, um, you know, I think there, there will be some years where the schedule is a little more difficult than, than probably they, they would have like, uh, there in terms of the actual, um, you know, X's and O's, but, uh, in terms of like, if, if I had to bet for the next 20 years, you know, which program is gonna make the, uh, the, the playoffs, uh, most regularly, it'd be Ohio State.

Yeah, well, uh, again, 2, if we end up in 2014 team playoff, we can have a bunch of teams that are there all the time, and wouldn't that just be exciting.

Uh, hopefully, we don't get there, but that is also gonna be part of the rhetoric, I'm sure at Big 10 Media Days.

A lot of championing of Tony Pettitti's 24 team master plan, which I think sucks.

Uh, all right.

Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon, and Penn State have all made the playoffs at least once during this current Big 10 renaissance that we're in the middle of.

Uh, which other Big 10 program outside of that group is the biggest underachiever that needs to join?

The playoff club, USC, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan State, anyone else?

Uh, Brian, who you got?

Well, it's definitely USC, like, you know, you talk about underachieving, it seems like they've been under underachieving ever since, uh, Pete Carroll left town, and, um, like the resources are there, open a brand new football facility there, uh, you know, on, on campus, like there's everything in place for Lincoln Riley.

And let's face it, he's a coach that has taken teams to the playoffs.

Like he knows how, how difficult this can be, uh, even in a four-team era.

So, um, you, you talk about like everything being on a, on a platter for the Trojans, um, that is easily the program that I , I would circle like.

And, and truthfully, the Big 10 needs it.

Like, um, you know, I think when you talk about the expansion and, and moving to 4 teams, like, yes, it's great to, to have Oregon in there and, and making semifinals and, and, and getting better each year in terms of the progression there from Dan Landing, but like if they really want, um, you know, to, to make it worth it in terms of that expansion to the West Coast, they need a flagship program like USC, uh, to kind of get over the hump.

And, uh, I think this is certainly pretending to be that kind of year, uh, in terms of, uh, what, what they have on the actual roster.

Very difficult schedule, even without Notre Dame on it.

Um, let's face it, you know, like they're, you, you talk about circling the, going through the schedule game and circling some of the other Big 10 powers that you're gonna have to play.

All right, well, they play Ohio State, they play Oregon, they play Indiana, like this is a, like, you know, like this is a team where, let's face it, they're, they're gonna have to get it done on the field and, um, you know, they, they went 9 and 3 last year, like, you know, can, can they get over the hump in terms of actually, um, you know, making it worth it.

Uh, I, I think it, it's definitely USC in, in my mind, and, um, you know, you, you mentioned some of the others like, you know, yes, you know, just in terms of where they're at right now, going into 2026, uh, I can't say it's, it's Wisconsin or Nebraska or any some, some of the others that, uh, you would typically expect out of the Big 10, but I, I think for the most part, this is a USC or bust, uh, type of thing in terms of actually getting over the hump and we'll see if that ends up being the case there for the Trojans.

Yeah, I, I think the forward looking answer is USC without question, right?

You, you allude, you, you mentioned everything, Brian, the resources, the alignment now that they have, um, the front office structure that they've built, like they, they, they, they, they went from, I think, behind to ahead of the curve in a lot of respects.

But, you know, I, I, I think about this question and I think about.

The missed opportunity we may look back on for Nebraska in the last 5 years, right?

In an era of like, If you're thinking, like, who, who's a place that could maybe capitalize on, all right, we can, we can push the chips and, we can be aggressive financially, we can tap into our support, you know, both locally and nationally, and like, really spend and, and go all in, like, it, it does feel like maybe there was an opportunity in the last 5 years for Nebraska to reascend in a way that they, they haven't, and You know, a lot of last season, it looked like maybe, you know, things were finally in motion with Matt Rhule, the poor finish certainly puts, put some cold water on that.

We'll see uh how, how they come out of the gates this year.

Um, but, you know, I, I, I, I just think.

maybe this is like old, old Big 10 thinking, and now, now, now that they've expanded again, uh, we, we, we, we've moved on from saying, well, if Nebraska gets back to being Nebraska, like this, this will really change things for the league, but yeah, I think that there there there's still a real desire and ambition to do that at that place and uh the fact that they weren't able to take advantage with, with, you know, a, a edge financially and an opportunity to push the chips in, I think, um, will be looked back on as, man, like, we missed the chance because now, Everybody's spending, everybody's got money.

It's harder for Nebraska now, uh, than it was certainly pre-2020 and, you know, even, you know, and definitely post kind of the 21 to 24, 2025, you know, build out of of NIL everywhere.

I agree with both of what you guys said.

I mean, I think USC is clearly the program that has all the everything in place to, to make a playoff, and this would be a very good year to do so for, for Lincoln Riley's uh viability.

But the Nebraska piece to me, yeah, that, that, it, it, it surprises me that if One of the keys to success now is getting an all-in fan base to come up with funds.

I mean, that is an all-in fan base all the time, every year, no matter what.

And they have not been able to transfer that into A legitimately big-time product for a long, long time.

Now, it also could be one of those fan bases that is so tradition-minded, that the idea of coming up with $40 million for a roster just kind of rubs them the wrong way.

And you may have a lot of people, who are Nebraska fans saying, hell no, I'm not doing that.

But I, I still also think they want to win badly enough that, that I would be very surprised if they don't come around to that way of thinking, uh, if they haven't already, and clearly, Like they did pony up to get Dylan Rayola.

That didn't work out that well.

Whether he was thrown in too soon, whether he was overrated, two years with him, very little to show for it, and now he's transferred to be a backup at Oregon.

And so, you're kind of starting over at the quarterback position there.

Matt Rhule's uh tenure just has not been able to hit that next gear.

And I don't think anybody's looking at them this year and saying, oh, OK, this is, this is when the Cornhuskers breakthrough.

That was last year, and it does feel like they missed an opportunity there.

But somebody's gonna rise up and surprise us.

We'll see who it might be.

I threw in Wisconsin and Michigan State, just cause they've, they've actually been there.

Like Wisconsin, you know, has won Big 10 titles.

Michigan State won a Big 10 title in 2015, played in the playoffs.

So, those are programs that have had success.

I'm not looking at them this year like Luke Fickle's fighting for his job.

Pat Fitzgerald's just getting started.

Uh, the USC and Nebraska elements are the ones that to me are a little more interesting.

Uh, all right, guys, uh, Big 10 game of the year.

We're gonna do a little draft, 2-round draft, so we're gonna take 6 games.

Can't pick something that somebody else has already picked.

Uh, Kevin's gonna go 1st, Brian's 2nd, me 3rd, and then we will snake draft it and reverse it.

Kevin, what's your, uh, Big 10 game of the year?

I, I'll take the lowest hanging fruit of Ohio State at Indiana.

I, I think, I, look, we already kind of got this experience of all the Hoosier fans in Indianapolis for the Big 10 championship last year, but I do think that atmosphere will just be incredible to, to, to witness, and obviously the stakes super high for both teams and You know, particularly for Indiana, it might be the first time we really learn anything about them , you know, they go on the road to Nebraska, that will be tricky, you know, their first Big 10 game, I think, is at home against Northwestern, we we talked about the non-conference schedule being a joke, uh, you know, they, they, they, their 3, their 3 Big 10 games before they play Ohio State are Northwestern at home, Rutgers at Rutgers, and Nebraska at Nebraska.

So maybe we learned something at Nebraska, but, like, They could be 6-0 and haven't played the starters in the 4th quarter yet, by the time they play this game, so, huge, huge implications and a fun, fun crowd, I'll be there.

I'm fascinating to see, you know, the loser of that game, especially if Ohio State, you know, loses to Texas, uh, on the road earlier, like, you know, the playoff peril, uh, and, and, and the doubts that will creep in, uh, you know, for the loser of that game is going to be fascinating from, from a, you know, bigger picture perspective.

I will go with Oregon at Ohio State as a result of that a little bit later, week 10, uh, on November 7th.

This has been a game.

That, uh, let's face it, you know, like, you know, they, they, they played some classics the last couple of times that they've met, and I think this is a, if you had to circle two of your, your best bets to win a national title of the Big 10, I, I think I'd go with these two teams.

So I think that adds to this game.

In particular, I mean, and, and you, you go back a couple of years, uh, when Oregon did come to the Horseshoe, uh, back in 2021.

Classic game, you know, like everybody doubted them.

Mario Cristobal was like, um, you know, uh, a man on a mission.

They didn't have Kavon Thibodeaux.

Everybody's, uh, doubting the Ducks, but, uh, they wound up pulling off the upset, a big one for, for that program, one of the bigger wins, I think in, in, in the Oregon history.

Uh, things are a little bit different now, certainly in a, in a 12-team era, but in terms of tiebreakers going to Indianapolis and, and potentially getting, you know, getting that by in, in the playoffs, I think this is going to be a massive game for the larger implications in, in the Big 10 and the national title race.

So I'm, I'm gonna go with the Oregon and Ohio State there in, uh, week 10.

Uh, all right, I get back to back picks here, and I'm going back to back Buckeyes, uh, in other games.

So we're like, we are very Ohio State heavy here, but their schedule's unbelievable, yeah, um.

I'm gonna go Ohio State at USC on Halloween.

The game in between their games against Indiana and Oregon.

I mean, that is a three-game stretch.

They have an open date on the 24th, but it's October 17th at Indiana.

Open date, October 31st at USC, November 7th, Oregon.

Wow.

And they play Texas, obviously, as Brian mentioned early.

But we're gonna see what is, all right, what does USC have?

What are they fully capable of?

We'll probably have a pretty good idea by then, but their schedule, pretty user-friendly.

They're at Penn State, uh, October 10th.

But otherwise, and they're at Wisconsin as well.

But still, that, that schedule, that almost sets up as a two-game late-season schedule for Ohio, for USC in terms of playoff viability.

Ohio State at home and then at Indiana.

Uh, and then just the gauntlet for the Buckeyes.

And then, all right , my boomerang pick, jeez, I'll take Ohio State, Michigan.

Seems to be a fairly important game every year.

That one's back in the horseshoe.

The last time they played there, it was one of the worst losses in Ohio State history.

They did happen to win the national championship after that, but I was there.

And I'm not sure, maybe one time, maybe when West Virginia blew the national championship game shot in 2007, it's the only time I've seen a home crowd so stunned, dismayed, angry, and sick.

Uh, and so, I think they really want to beat Michigan in the Horseshoe for the first time in a while.

So, those are my, those are my back to back Buckeye picks.

And, and didn't you get pepper sprayed?

Oh, I got pepper sprayed, absolutely, yeah, yeah, during the melee on the field.

That was awesome.

As I've said, my, my food review of pepper spray, it does not taste very good.

Don't eat it.

Uh, Brian, go ahead, and he filed a column after, you know, I mean, way to fight through it, um, uh, I, I will go with Oregon at USC, uh, you know, close, close call over Michigan at, at Oregon, uh, in there, but, uh, Oregon at USC week 4, early, late September, like this is, you talk about a mile marker early in the season.

Uh, for, for both teams, you know, like this is, is Oregon truly what we think it is in terms of being a national title contender?

Is USC back, if, if you will, uh, I mean, this is a, you know, you mentioned some of the USC games there on the schedule, like this is a tough slate there for, for Lincoln Riley, and let's face it, if they want to be, you know, 10 and 2-ish, um, you know, and, and make the playoffs as an at-large team, like this is one of the games they're probably gonna have to win.

Uh, it is at home.

Um, you know, like there, there's going to be that, that natural rivalry that has built up as, as a former Pac-12 foe.

I, I think there's, there's gonna be a lot riding on this game.

I'm gonna be curious, especially if Lincoln Riley has something saved up, uh, they're, they're for the Ducks defense.

So, um, this is gonna be a big test for, for both sides, so I'm gonna go Oregon at USC is my pick.

Yeah, I love that.

Um, I've got an interesting one here for the last round, and this is probably, this is maybe like getting too bracketology brained, but I think this USC Penn State game on October 10th has a chance to be.

You know, enormous for both sides, right?

We've talked about the schedule being really, really difficult for USC.

It's pretty manageable for, for Penn State.

And in a lot of ways, you could look at this, like, they have that at Washington game, that's not easy, but there's this 3-game stretch here where they opened Northwestern's new stadium.

Then they come home for what will likely be their whiteout game against USC and then at Michigan, like, can you win 2 out of 3 and go in feeling really good about yourself to go 10 and 2 and potentially make the playoffs, and you're one under Matt Campbell, and, you know, obviously the whiteout special is a lot of fun, uh, I, I also just think, like, Uh, the, the idea of, like, those two iconic brands from opposite coasts, you know, the, the, the, like the, the jerseys, like, everything about that just kind of feels my speed, so I'll take that as my last pick, and it could end up being the most important, like, swing game of the season if things break right for both teams.

Covered a Saquan Barkley versus Sam Darnold Rose Bowl between those two programs that was just outrageous, great games , like 52 to 49.

Uh, stealth, uh, two teams we haven't talked much about, you mentioned Penn State, but Washington, I still watch out for Washington as a sleeper.

Penn State at Washington, November 7, old school Big 10 versus new school.

We'll see if, uh, see what the Huskies bring to the table.

OK.

Uh, We, we have a little more breaking news, so let's discuss this.

I, I had the Senate bill travails on the rundown, but forget that.

Uh, this is a little more pressing, perhaps.

Uh, news out of North Carolina, there's always news, it seems out of North Carolina.

None of it's very good.

Uh, they announced first thing this morning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has placed Michael Lombardi, general manager of the Carolina Football Program, on paid administrative leave effective immediately.

That's the sum total of the release, basically, other than saying, we're not commenting beyond that.

This does not seem to be good news for Michael Lombardi or for the Tar Heels.

Uh, Bill Belichick's tenure has not gone very well so far.

They were a disaster last year going 4 and 8.

There was enough off the field stuff lingering around, hovering around.

Uh, that you just got a feeling that things were not running very well there.

Uh, it's good that we have a Carolina controversy that doesn't involve Jordan Hudson.

Bill Belichick's girlfriend, so that's at least a positive, but it does involve his handpicked GM.

And quite frankly, one of the things that I have heard from people is that the biggest single problem with the Belichick era to date has been Michael Lombardi.

That he was a bad hire, who doesn't get the college game, who's run roughshod to a degree.

What exactly is going on here?

Don't know, can't tell you.

But this seems like another problem sign clearly for them.

Brian, uh, your thoughts on what's happening at Carolina?

Well, my, judging by my phone, like, uh, you know, vibrating as As we're recording this, like, it's definitely, um, you know, there, there's a bit of a glee around the industry, I would say from, from this, uh, this news, and, um, you know, I, I think we'll, we'll definitely have to see, you know, in terms of the actual like what, what is it that , uh, got him to, to be placed on an administrative leave.

Not ruling anything out in terms of, uh, Jordan Hudson, uh, given, given the adversarial nature, it seems like, uh, with, with, uh, um, Michael Lombardi and, and look, like if, if you're talking about pretext for if this season goes wrong, all right, well, here's, here's the pretext to kind of usher.

Uh, Bill Belichick out the door, which I think there is a faction there in, in Chapel Hill that would love to see that be the case, and, um, you know, it's gonna be interesting too to see, um, you know, just kind of how Bill reacts to this, like he is the right-hand man there, um, you know, he has been, uh, you know, for, for, for better and for worse, um, you know, the reason when the Tar Heels, you know, did not have a great season last season.

Um, and, uh, you know, why they're probably, you know, borderline in terms of having another, uh, mediocre to, to, to good season in terms of, uh, 2026.

So we'll, we'll see.

Uh, it definitely, uh, kind of in the moment, it seems like, uh, you know, everybody is, is raising a little bit of eyebrow there in terms of like what could actually get him.

Uh, to be placed on administrative leave and we'll see what, uh, you know, any, any results of the investigation.

I will say great timing in terms of like in between SEC media days and Big 10 media days.

Like if you're talking about releasing this and, and, you know, from a public relations standpoint, if you had to drop this, this news in, in college football, uh, I think that would probably be the optimal window to, uh, to, to kind of get it, uh, pushed off the front page, but, uh, we, we, it is definitely, uh, the talk of the town, if you will, in terms of college football.

Yeah, I mean, I think this is really bad news for Bill Belichick, because, look, I think everybody sees the schedule that they have, and will understand that, yeah, like, North Carolina is not gonna take a massive leap forward in year two, right?

Like the, the, the aspirations that we're the 33rd NFL team, and we're this and that, like, that has not come to fruition, at least this year, but like, You can't embarrass us, right?

Like, if we're gonna ride this wave with you, and we're gonna believe in the vision, and last year, like, again, it was embarrassing because they were bad, but it was embarrassing because of Jordan Hudson and everything else that came with it, and the sideshow that it became for for a lot of the early part of the season.

I thought by the end of the year, like, they had become a competent football outfit, but The narrative had already been cooked, and I, I worry that we're headed down the same road with a different, a different, you know, Belichick, uh, side piece here, if you will, um, in, in terms of what Mike Lombardi, like, if this is bad, and we don't know how bad it will be or what he will say, like, it's going to enter the year with a level of negativity that is not fun.

And then, oh, by the way, just like last year where we had the, the, the, the TCU opener with nothing else going on, we got a TCU opener with nothing going on, and TCU could Run it down their throats, and then, you know, all right, FCS game, great, but then at Clemson and Notre Dame, and at Pitt, and at Duke, like, uh, uh, Miami later, like, I don't really know where the winds are coming from, and if you're losing ugly and uh and you've got the off-field distractions, yeah, that, that is usually a bad sign for a football coach.

Yeah, this, uh, the , the negative momentum is significant, and this is a very bad way to start, uh, basically get heading into preseason camp, uh, with another storm cloud, basically over the program.

Uh, yeah, they can absolutely start like 1 and 5.

There's no, no doubt about that, and be in the same situation they were last year.

Uh, you mentioned the thirty-third NFL team.

That was a Michael Lombardi coined phrase.

That was him.

And I think there was no shortage of arrogance that accompanied the arrival of the Belichick program, and, and Lombardi personified a lot of that.

And the more of that, that seemed like a fundamental disconnect with how things work in college football, including maybe, again, we don't know what exactly is going on here.

But within the construct of the rules, within the construct of, you know, how programs are funded, all that sort of thing, uh, there just didn't seem to be a lot of understanding or care to understand.

And Lombardi, I think, Kind of became the face of, of all of that.

And Belichick, this, this may be.

Um, so, I, I don't wanna say scapegoat, if things go really badly, but, I mean, cause, cause Lombardi may well be earning what's happening to him.

Again, we don't know, we'll find out more, but If you want somebody to stand there as the, the face of this was a bad idea.

So far, Michael Lombardi's that guy.

Again, we'll find out more, maybe they have a good season, maybe they're coached up a lot better, maybe they play well, who knows.

But uh it it is a bad way for them to start.

Uh, heading into August, that's for sure.

OK, guys , last thing, uh, Dateline, Lu Verne, Minnesota, certainly a lovely hamlet somewhere in that state, great state.

Uh, they have a A new centerpiece in town, a 66 ft tall nutcracker.

Uh, you know, the wooden things with the movable jaw where you can crack a nut, they, who knows who invented those, uh, and, and at what point in time or why.

But, uh, they've got it decked out in stars and stripes regalia.

It's called Verne the Patriot, and it looms over the town of Luverne.

Uh, great.

Everybody's gotta have a calling card, that's their calling card.

So, uh, my question for you all, we'll start with you, Kevin, and then go to Brian.

If you had more money than sense, and the ability to inflict your tastes upon where you live, what giant, uh, Uh, device or apparatus or, or showpiece would you put in your town?

Kevin, go ahead.

Well, I don't know if this is on your itinerary for Big 10 Media Day, Pat, but, uh, one thing that the tourists in Chicago do like to do is, is go to the McDonald's headquarters and get the McDonald's food from all across the world.

They, they let you order like Korean chicken and things like this.

It's, it's fun.

Um, but the building is extremely nondescript, you know, it just has like a little sign that says Hamburger University, that's they're training.

I am shocked that a a company known for the golden arches did not put just an enormous golden arches in the middle of the West Loop where where this is located.

So, if, if I was McDonald's, and again, this is the great, I, I don't even have to pay for this from the city, I'm just gonna pitch it to McDonald's and, hey, it's gonna be big for you guys, it's gonna be big for us, uh, people wanna come and see this, and uh I, I wonder if there's, there's someone vain enough in, in the McDonald's apparatus to say, yeah, we're gonna put, you know, 60 ft golden arch, that sounds like a good idea.

Can't believe they've missed that opportunity.

I, I feel sorry for like the kids from the ages of like 4 to 18 that, you know, we're gonna get looped into some family trip to, you know, detour over to to go see this thing, you know, like that, that to me is the, the thing that I'm thinking of as soon as I see the picture, you know, and it looks like, you know, like.

Big tech a little bit, you know, as a nutcracker, you know, like just kind of rising up out of nowhere, um, so I, I, I will give them credit, like, I mean, it looks great.

Uh, I would say like if, if, if money were no object, maybe like some like giant bobblehead would be kind of cool, like if you put that somewhere, um, you know, I, I, I struggle to see why, uh, if, if I did have, uh, endless amounts of money, I'd I'd do anything other than that.

I will say like if we're, if we're gonna like gonna go crazy, I, I might, uh, go up Pat 40's, um.

Uh, area and like have some like gigantic pool or like some kind of like water park or something like that.

If, if, if we had to do like uh something esoteric and like here, here's here's an attraction to come to my town and go like maybe like a giant water park or something like that, but like, otherwise, uh, you know, maybe a giant bobblehead.

Well, I, I live in Louisville, Kentucky, and there's a lot of bourbon, uh, marketing here, but I, you know what, that we need like a bourbon waterfall would be my point.

Louisville was built on the falls of the Ohio River, and it was built because people had to like get out of their boats to move them around the falls and take them down, so they had to build a city there.

Uh, but, so if you already got like a falls area and you've got bourbon, why not have a bourbon waterfall.

I'm sure there would be no sobriety issues or any other problems like that with it.

Uh, law enforcement would be thrilled to have a giant bourbon waterfall.

I, hey, what the heck?

Figure it out.

Mix it with Coke, whatever you gotta do.

I have a ginger ale slide or whatever, and have everybody down there with their cups, and you can, you can make your own cocktail while you're sitting in downtown Louisville.

So, maybe not as good as uh Vern the Patriot, cracking nuts from high above Lou Verne, Minnesota.

But we've all got ideas.

Come up with your own, let us know what you got for your hometown.

Uh, thanks for listening to the show.

Uh, we'll be back, as I said, with, uh, stories and information from Big 10 Media Days throughout the week, and we will talk to you all on the podcast in August.

Have a great day.