Things get started today in Chicago
The annual gathering of Big Ten coaches, players and media in Chicago opens today. The two-day event gets underway with Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois sending their coaches and players through the media circuits. That means we’ll hear from Urban Meyer, Mark Dantonio, Randy Edsall and Tim Beckman, among others. It also means Penn State fans will be more interested in Friday’s schedule with head coach James Franklin, Anthony Zettel, Jordan Lucas and Angelo Mangiro getting their opportunities to meet the press. Oh, and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh takes the podium. That should grab some headlines.
We previewed Big Ten media day with Andy Coppens from Talking 10 in a previous podcast. And if you missed the most recent podcast, here you go. I’m working on getting this all set up on iTunes.
Around the Big Ten
Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez took his turn through the summer ESPN carwash, and the former head coach of the Michigan Wolverines offered his thoughts on the Big Ten…
Rich Rodriguez on Big Ten country: “They have two seasons: winter & August"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 29, 2015
OK then. Nobody had a better reaction than the one and only Evil James Franklin.
Can’t blame him for trying to forget the autumns. https://t.co/mNrlxLOEAh
— Evil James Franklin (@JamesFrankwin) July 29, 2015
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It should be noted Rodriguez did experience losing season twice during his brief time in Ann Arbor.
Meanwhile, over at The Student Section, most improved Big Ten teams is discussed.
Also, as I saw this morning, Ohio State is utilizing the old “show off trophies you technically won even though they never existed” recruiting pitch.
#EmbracetheGrind pic.twitter.com/NoykhgaOhU
— Coach Tony Alford (@CoachTonyAlford) July 30, 2015
In the graphic below you will see 35 copies of the Stagg Championship Trophy, awarded to the Big Ten championship game winner since 2011 (and yes, it used to bear Joe Paterno’s name as well). If this wanted to be more accurate, it would have used this version of the trophy as well, which brings up another good point. Some of those Big Ten titles, as Penn State fans no doubt know, were shared conference crowns despite losing head-to-head match-ups with Penn State. In fact, just since Penn Sate joined the Big Ten in 1993, seven of those Big Ten titles have been shared with another Big Ten member(s).
Around the Nation
Washington head coach Chris Petersen thinks Boise State fans will boo him upon his arrival in Week 1. Not a chance… Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher drops a truth bomb about the SEC West.
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