INDIANAPOLIS — When administrators, coaches, student-athletes and media members gathered in Indianapolis in July 2021 for Big Ten Football media days, a rumbling from the South was palpable in Lucas Oil Stadium. Reports emerged that Texas and Oklahoma were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, giving the powerful league two more huge brands to attract TV viewers.
Gophers head to Big Ten media days amid the swirl of conference realignment chatter
College football team movement is once again front and center as the Big Ten considers what comes next after the addition of USC and UCLA.
July 26, 2022 at 2:07AM
Here it is, a year later at Big Ten football's annual preseason gathering, and conference realignment is the dominant topic again, this time with the Big Ten a month removed from adding USC and UCLA. The Trojans and Bruins will start Big Ten play in the 2024-25 season. It was a clear response to the SEC's annexation, and it's whipped up speculation that there could be more to come from the soon-to-be 16-team league.
Is it finally the right time for Notre Dame to end its football independence and join the Midwest-based conference? Might North Carolina or Virginia be the Big Ten's next target, or would Stanford, Oregon or Washington be in the mix? And how much per year will each Big Ten school get from the new media rights deal that's expected to be completed in the near future: $90 million? $100 million? $120 million if Notre Dame bites?
Those questions are certain to be posed to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren during his Tuesday news conference, though the answers won't necessarily be concrete with so much to be determined.
While all the off-the-field developments make for juicy speculation, there is a 2022 football season to be played and talked about. The Tuesday-Wednesday interview sessions with all 14 Big Ten coaches and three or four players from each team will set the stage for season that's quickly approaching — Aug. 27 for a trio of Big Ten teams, and Sept. 1 for the Gophers, who face New Mexico State and old acquaintance Jerry Kill in the opener.
Big Ten teams have plenty of on-the-field storylines on which to focus. Was Michigan's championship breakthrough a one-time deal, or will Ohio State return to Big Ten supremacy? Was Michigan State a transfer-driven flash in the pan? Can Scott Frost finally deliver a winning season to Nebraska? Is this the year that the Gophers win the West and advance to the conference title game?
Gophers coach P.J. Fleck will bring four players to Indy on Tuesday to represent the program: quarterback Tanner Morgan, center John Michael Schmitz, linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin and safety Tyler Nubin. All four will be key in Minnesota's ability to build off last year's 9-4 season and third consecutive bowl win under Fleck.
Tuesday's Gophers schedule starts with Fleck's news conference at 10:30 a.m., and he and his players will participate in mass interviews in a window from 2:15 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Big Ten Football media days
TV coverage: BTN will cover all news conferences and have podium coverage of coaches and players. The Fox Sports app also will stream coverage.
Tuesday's news conferences (all times Central)
9:15 a.m.: Commissioner Kevin Warren
10 a.m.: Nebraska coach Scott Frost
10:15 a.m.: Maryland coach Mike Locksley
10:30 a.m.: Gophers coach P.J. Fleck
10:45 a.m.: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz
11 a.m.: Indiana coach Tom Allen
11:15 a.m.: Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald
11:30 a.m.: Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
Wednesday's news conferences
10 a.m.: Purdue coach Jeff Brohm
10:15 a.m.: Illinois coach Bret Bielema
10:30 a.m.: Michigan State coach Mel Tucker
10:45 a.m.: Rutgers coach Greg Schiano
11 a.m.: Penn State coach James Franklin
11:15 a.m.: Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst
11:30 a.m.: Ohio State coach Ryan Day
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