College football insider: Big Ten gathering reveals confidence is high. The season will reveal who was right.

LAS VEGAS – Big Ten football media days made its Las Vegas debut Tuesday through Thursday, and like any visitor to Sin City, the conference’s 18 teams arrived with a mixture of excitement, curiosity and hope for big seasons. There were brash statements, big dreams and cautious optimism offered among the attendees.

As reporters filled their recorders with tidbits to take them through August, the coaches and players in attendance explained why their team is poised to have a solid season. Reality will show that not everyone will be as happy come season’s end. Nowhere does that ring truer than in the nation’s gambling capital, where the exuberance of arrival often gives way to wallets full of ATM receipts rather than the anticipated Benjamins.

With that in mind, here are some of the top moments of the Big Ten gathering:

A national semifinalist last year, Penn State is a slight favorite to win the Big Ten for the first time since 2016. That’s in large part because the Nittany Lions return quarterback Drew Allar and a highly productive running back tandem of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Coach James Franklin, who’s trying to deliver Penn State its first national championship since 1986, embraces and welcomes the expectations.

“We had what a lot of people would consider a really good season last year. We were a game away from playing for the national championship, and you could actually make the argument a drive away from playing for the national championship, but it didn’t feel that way, right?” he said. “Because the expectations at Penn State are really high.”

Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten regular-season standings but ran the table in the College Football Playoff to claim the national title. To coach Ryan Day, that was yesterday.

While the Buckeyes went 4-0 in the College Football Playoff, they couldn’t beat Michigan, falling 13-10 for their fourth consecutive loss to the Wolverines. That result prompted Michigan defensive end Derrick Moore to cast shade on Ohio State’s accomplishment.

“I’ll congratulate them on the win,” Moore said, “but you know it’s not no real win if y’all ain’t beat us.”

Illinois coach Bret Bielema had the leadoff spot at media days, and the shoot-from-the-hip former Iowa defensive end and Wisconsin coach didn’t hold back in describing the changes in college football brought on by the transfer portal, name, image and likeness payments and now, revenue-sharing from the House v. NCAA settlement.

“Now we have a system where starting in July, we actually paid our players through PayPal,” he said. “The world has changed. It’s just a different, different world. Absolutely awesome.”

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti showed off his brash side last year when he told skeptics, “I win. Google me.” On Tuesday, he bulled his neck again.

Cignetti responded with a zinger. “We figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy,” he said, referring to SEC teams playing only eight conference games and having an FCS opponent visit in November. The Big Ten plays nine conference games each year.

In his 27th year as Iowa’s coach, Kirk Ferentz appeared to be hiding pocket aces when it came to the upcoming season.

The starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes is expected to be Mark Gronowski, a graduate transfer who led South Dakota State to a pair of FCS championships. Gronowski had offseason shoulder surgery and did not practice this spring.

“I’m anxious to see him break the huddle with our guys,” Ferentz said. “He comes in with a mechanical engineering degree. The level is so overrated. Good players are good players.”

The Cornhuskers played in their first bowl game since 2016 last year, beating Boston College 20-15 in the Pinstripe Bowl. Big Red hopes that was the first step toward returning to the lofty status it occupied in the Tom Osborne era. The schedule is manageable — no Ohio State or Oregon, and Cincinnati, Akron and Houston Christian aren’t exactly a murderer’s row of nonconference opponents.

Like Bielema, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck is amazed at how the landscape of college athletics continues to change with players now sharing revenue. Case in point, he spoke of running back Darius Taylor being a car aficionado.