Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik preview 2024 Big Ten Media Days.
Listen to Buckeye Talk, your favorite Ohio State football podcast, five days a week with Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik discuss the upcoming Big Ten Media Days and the pressing questions surroundingas they preview the 2024 season.
They also touch on the new era of Big Ten football with the conference now featuring 18 teams. Plus a conversation about what the expected minimum number of expected College Football Playoff teams the Big Ten should have annually. Ohio State picked as runaway 2024 Big Ten favorite in 14th annual cleveland.com Preseason Big Ten Football PollGAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL OR TEXT 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-BETS OFF . 21+ only . Must be present in AZ/CO/IA/IN/KY/LA /NC/NJ/OH/VA. Deposit required. Paid in Bonus Bets. Bonus Bets wager excluded from returns. New Customers only. T&Cs, time limits and exclusions apply. Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.The 2024 season has officially arrived. I’m Stephen Means, that’s Kreischnick, and this is Buckeye Talk, new era Buckeye Talk. We are both in a car, as you’re listening to this on Monday, headed to Indianapolis for Big Ten Media Days. We’re coming from two different places. I am coming from Stefan’s new home, Columbus, Ohio, not his actual home. I don’t know where he lives. That would be weird. I just met the man. I’ve never even seen him in person, but it’s OK. And he is coming from Mississippi. That’s not true either. He’s actually coming from Indiana. He’s already up there. And so he’s making his way to Indianapolis. All three of us, myself, Stefan and Andrew, will be together for the first time in Indianapolis. And we’re just going to preview Big Ten media days because we’ve got a new era on Buckeye Talk. We’ve got a new era of college football. And Stefan, we’ve got a new era of the Big Ten with 18 teams. We’re going to break down all not all 18 teams. We’re going to look at this from the Ohio State perspective and then What’s interesting as we head into the new era of a big 10, of course, we have to start with Ohio State, Stephane, because that’s who we cover. You’re coming into this with completely fresh eyes. You’re coming into this from an outside perspective, looking in, but you’re not new to Ohio State because it’s still Ohio State, one of the bigger programs in the country. And so let’s start with this, the three to five most pressing thingsWe need to ask Ryan Day as whether it’s us here at clayvon .com or just the beat in general, the things you want to learn from Ryan Day. Let’s start with the most important thing you want to learn from Ryan Day next week.Um, let’s see, I’m trying to, I want to make sure I’m getting this right to kind of in terms of importance. think the most important question is how does this team handle the expectations? And I, and I don’t think it’s the same as a typical, like every year Ohio state has to handle expectations, right? The expectations are beat Michigan, win the big 10, win the national championship. But there’s this sense when you read the national articles that are coming about Ohio State. you look at, you know, what pundits are talking about when it comes to Ohio State, there is a sense of now or never with Ryan Day, which might not be fair, right? Like if Ohio State doesn’t win at all this year and day is back next year, they’re going to have a really good roster that can compete for national championship again, right? Like they can win in the coming years. It doesn’t have to be this year, but there’s this pressure growing of like, if it doesn’t happen this year, like when is it going to happen? Because This is the roster. They have the best blue chip ratio in the country going into this season. They have all the pieces in place besides maybe not having a CJ Shroud or Justin Fields at quarterback to compete for a national championship. If it’s going to happen, there’s this sense nationally that it has to happen this year. And how does, how do you handle those expectations? Cause I think it’s a little different than maybe what you’ve seen in years past. I think that’s the most important thing. How is this team going to be put into a place when it’s the fourth quarter and a game is tight, whether it be in the playoff, whether it be against Michigan, whether it be, know, sometimes you have a random game where it’s you’re facing a team in the big 10, let’s say Penn State or something, and it’s tight in the fourth quarter. Like, how do you handle that moment when it’s tight and you’re sitting there at the line of scrimmage and in the back of your mind, it’s if we lose this game, this season’s already going to be start looking at, look at that as a letdown. Like how do you handle those moments when this pressure is bearing down on you this season? I think that’s the most important thing this team is going to have to face.I think what’s interesting, they live in that world already, I think. there is no such thing. I know it’s the way we put it, but there’s no such thing or now or never with Ohio State because every moment of your life is now or ever. You’re not allowed to lose any game. We analyze third and seven when you’re up by 72 points against a mid American conference point. It’s insane. The fishbowl that anybody around Ohio State has to live in. But there is something to It’s the extreme of something that’s already the extreme and they’re not shying from it, right? mean Denzel Burke and Will Howard and all these guys have come out and it’s now or never. It’s not to your bust, right? Ty Leek Williams, Jack Sawyer, JT Tween, Malowow, Jordan Hanks. This is why they’re back. This is why Caleb Downs transferred. it’s like if you lit firecracker on fire after it was already on fire and then you poured gasoline on it and then whatever else to make it burn the brightest it’s ever burned ever. And it’s because it’s the typical pressure. You’re right, there’s typical pressure that comes with being at Ohio State. There’s the typical of you need to beat your rival, you need to win the big time, you need to win the national championship. It’s a whole nother conversation. when you’re talking about you haven’t done any of those things in three years. You haven’t won the Big Ten in three years. Your rival just won a national title. And then the guy that you, let’s keep it frank here, there was no love lost between Ryan Day and Jim Harbaugh. And Jim Harbaugh just won a national title and skipped off to LA. He skipped off to Hollywood. He wrote a Hollywood movie, Stefan, and then went to Hollywood to deliver his script. That’s what he did. I just figured that out in the middle of his pod. But it is to the point.It’s not for me how they’re going to handle it. It’s now that you’re living in it. How different is it than in spring? Right. When it is a little bit more laid back, you you see Ryan Day walking around. He’s he’s a little more chill because it’s spring, right? There’s nothing at stake in the spring. It’s development time, right? It’s minutiae behind the scenes time. Well, starting August 1st, you’re going to be in it and you’re really going to be in it. And so that laid back. Cool guy, does that guy stay? Is that how he handles it or does he go back into the mode he’s typically in, which I don’t think is wrong, again, his losses are like the teams who were consistently in the top 10 amongst the country. So it’s not like he’s losing the scrubs, but there is something to that of spending nine months getting to this point of. Talking about this is why we’re back. This is why we got these guys out of the transfer portal Jeremiah Smith might be a mon star This is why we got this quarterback everything under the Sun seems to be at stake But at the same time it’s not because it’s not like the last 100 years of college football where one loss in your season is one loss and it’s like you reevaluate things, but two losses your season might be over, three losses your season is definitely over. But how do you handle all this? Some of the, to your point, it’s a lot of pressure, but it’s almost shifted in a way of yes, these new things in college football take away from the need to feel like every single game you have to be on edge. You can’t lose, you can’t have a bad week, but also. just because of what the past three years have been, you kind of still are living in that you can’t lose, you can’t have a bad week.Well, and the thing is, too, like if the pressure is building already this season and the expectations are already sky high for Ohio State. Yeah, sure. You can lose a game in the regular season. Probably don’t want it to be a certain game, but let’s say they lose at, you know, at Oregon. I think that’s probably the most likely game that you have circle right now for them to lose. They lose that game at Oregon. Sure. You’re still in a spot where you can make the playoff. You could maybe even, you know, end up being one of those teams that has a buy in the playoff, but If the pressure is already hot, you know, those weeks after you lose a game, it’s only going to get hotter, right? So like, if you have trouble handling it early in the season when you’re undefeated through non -con play, then it’s going to get hot when you lose a game and they can still go on. Can they overcome that then and still win a national championship? Right? Like, can you overcome the adversity that comes, you know, with any season, especially a season when you’re playing at Ohio State? If you can overcome You’re going have chance to win a national championship, right? And it starts with how do you handle it now? Can you handle it now? Because it’s only going to get more and more more intense as the season goesI don’t We can ask all the questions of whether we think the quarterback is going to be good or not I think step one is how do you handle it? We’ve seen The first two Ryan Day quarterbacks that he chose as a head coach even if we already knew who was gonna be It was a process to get there and it wasn’t till about midway through fall camp that he actually announced it But once he did it and he here’s what he’s gonna do Stefan cuz you knew this here’s what he’s gonna do And I’m sure other coaches have done this before covered Let’s just say he names Bob Barker as the starting quarterback. He’s going to do this. Yeah, Bob is going to take the first snap of the Akron game. And we’re going to go from there. But as I told Mike and Joe and Robert, this is an ongoing thing. You’ve got to continue to develop. All that means is that Bob is taking the first snap of the aquarium. That’s exactly the language he’s gonna use. I’m telling you right now, you can book it. That’s how he’s gonna do it. But what does that mean? With Justin Fields and CJ Stroud, it was lip service because they took the first snaps of the Florida Atlantic game and the Minnesota game. And then they took every meaningful snap after that for the rest of their careers outside of an awkward game because CJ Stroud was out with shoulder injury. But with Kyle, it meant something last year. They continued the competition on into the season where they purposely got Devin Brown snaps. Now it wasn’t, you know, equal. In fact, Kyle McCord would play the whole first quarter and the plan was Devin Brown would come in and play the first series of the second quarter and then maybe he would come in the second half. But it was clear where this was headed. It just hadn’t gotten there yet. It was almost like a view of practice where we’ve started to devy up the reps.but we’re not all the way there with it. But to the point, that time, it wasn’t just lip service that Ryan Day was saying, Kyle McCord was gonna take the first snap against Indiana, and that just means that. We don’t know what’s gonna happen the rest of the season. He’s also gonna say something like someone could jump off the curb or something. Coach and their metaphors and similes are just always, I don’t get them. Okay, does that mean if he names Will Howard the starting quarterback, is Devin Brown still in this? Or is it just Will Howard’s job? When did he make that decision? Does he handle like he did last year or the last couple of times? Does Julian Sand matter in this conversation? Does the fact your schedule isn’t the prettiest in the first six games of the season until you play Oregon, allow you to maybe experiment a little bit more. I’m just wondering where Ryan Day’s head at. And I know he’s not going to give us the full answer to that question, but I think we can get an idea on Tuesday when Ryan Day talks about what this is going to look like over the next 30 days.Yeah, I 100 % agree. I think the obvious is that he’s going to be asked about it, right? I’m really curious to see what answer we get. know, like this Ohio State knows that they’re going to get asked about this. Ryan Dade knows he’s going to ask about this. how do you, what do you prepare to be the answer for the question? Cause you’re not going to get blindsided by it. You know that it’s coming. Are you going out there? Part of me thinks Granted the three players that are representing Ohio state and media days are legit. They’re leaders on the team. Like there’s none of those three guys surprised me that they’re there. Right. But there is part of me that thinks that if they have the starting quarterback ready and they want to announce it, that quarterback would probably have been sent to go there too. So that makes me think that they’re not going to announce the starting quarterback. Well, and frankly, I would have a lot of questions of if it did announce the starting quarterback, what changed between spring and today? when you have not practiced, right? we’re like, is it? So I don’t expect an answer on that front, but I agree with you. Like, how do you handle that? Do you feel like you have, let’s say three quarterbacks to a stick of this conversation who can handle a competition well, and it doesn’t, you know, a divide in the locker room at all. Like, do you have three guys that if, you know, I mean, we’ve seen teams in the past do, Hey, this guy’s going to start game one. This guy’s going to start game two. This guy’s going to start game three.Do you have a team and a culture in place that could handle something like that? And if you say, well, Howard starting game one and Devon Brown starting game two, and then we’ll Howard, you know, I mean, whoever starts getting one is probably going to have a pretty good game. Can you, do you have a culture in place where you could say, yes, that guy had a great game, but like this is the plan. We’re sticking to the plan. We’re not going to, you know, jump the gun just because this guy played well. There’s a lot of questions that they have to answer. And I’m curious to see how they answer that media days just because. I feel like there has to be a tactical response kind of in place because you know it’s going to be asked.And a great game one has to come with the stats almost don’t even matter, right? It’s Akron. You’re expecting him to have a great game. You almost have to look at it with a level of nuance of. when you go back and look at the film, did you see somebody who was making the right decisions out there? Because there’s gonna be times when just cause you made a decision and it worked out with a 60 yard touchdown against Akron doesn’t mean it was the right decision. It just meant they don’t have the athletes to make you pay for it. Oregon’s gonna have the athletes, pencil on down the list there. But a lot of that’s gonna start over the next 30 days. Another thing I have a question about, actually, I’ll let you go next. What’s another thing that’s a pressing issue for you as you head into this Indianapolis this week?I want to know, and it kind of goes to the series you and Andrew did, like, does Ohio State, does Ryan Day think that his offensive line is championship caliber? And if so, what gives him that confidence? Because that’s a group that has been scrutinized probably more so, whether it on the field or recruiting side, more so than any position group in the program. Like what gives him the confidence that regardless of who’s quarterback, that that quarterback and the star running backs that they have are going to have the protection in front of them that they need. Not just to beat a Michigan state or in Iowa, like they need to be able to beat a Georgia and Alabama, an Oregon, a Michigan, right? Like, do you feel like you have that group in place? And if so, if you do believe that, what gives you that confidence?What’s his confidence in the line in 2024 and what is his confidence in the future of that room right now? I think is almost the way to ask that question because you get an answer for both in a way, at least in tone, even if he’ll go coach mode with it because it’s a lot of questions. And it’s really right now, it’s questions about that right side. I think we know what the left side is. It’s like, hey, can you be better than you were last year? Joshua Simmons, Donovan Jackson, hey, Seth McLaughlin. Are the snaps a one year issue or is that something that’s going to follow you up here from Tuscaloosa that writes out and Ryan Day, we’ve said that he said this before in a couple of press conference assistance this spring, that right side is where they need to figure some things out. So I almost want to ask, like, just find out, hey, what’s Tegra Shabola? Hey, what’s Luke Montgomery up to? Hey, is Josh Fire for sure only going to be a tackle or is he still going to be rapping at guard? Hey, what’s going on with Carson Hensman? Is there positional versatility there where maybe he’s not just going back to being your backup center, you can play him there. Is there anybody new who has really caught your eye during summer workouts where it’s like, hmm, in the spring you saw it come in a little bit, but now he’s in a position where it feels like, let’s see what happens over the next 30 days here. I’m interested in how they’re gonna use the offensive line too. This is gonna be a lot of, I’m interested to see what their plan is because. I’ll add some context last year. They’re a deep team right now, quite frankly, they’re four deep at a lot of spots. And so one of the things they did last fall was they had two fields going and you really couldn’t get the ones or the twos at all because Donovan Jackson would be over here. But then Josh Fryer would be over here. Ameca would, Abuca would be over here. Marvin Harrison Jr. would be over. It was just kind of mumbo jumbled in a way of let’s just get reps. Let’s just get things on film and evaluate. I don’t know if I agree that that worked or didn’t work. I think in some spots it may be helped because it allowed guys like Carnell take the flash in a way that made you feel like, okay, if we have to play this guy, we can play this guy, right? But in other positions, when you’re talking about offensive line continuity, maybe it didn’t serve the best purpose for that situation. So what did Ryan learn from that? What did Justin Frye learn from that? Is that something they want to approach this fall as well? Because you’re just as deep in terms of numbers.but are you deep enough in terms of quality players that you can maybe evaluate things the right way? Or in the name of all in, you know what’s at stake. Do you spend the next 30 days? You know maybe who your top five are and you get them as much continuity as possible. So by the time you get on the field with real competition, that’s not an issue and maybe you’re ahead of schedule.See, that’s a question though that’s... It has to be asked in a different kind of frame this season because you’re playing more games than you ever have in theory. like, as much as you need that continuity of those starting five, do you have the depth to be able to divide up the reps so that when December comes and you don’t have that you know, month plus off that you normally do. You have a decent amount of time off between the Michigan game and when the first playoff game would be, but like, do you have the depth to keep some of these guys healthy, keeping relatively fresh for what’s going to be a prolonged season if you reach the goals that you want to reach, right? Like you mentioned the depth that they have, like it’s going to be more important now than ever, right? To have depth, especially off offensive line, like When you add in extra games and you’re talking in the sense of offensive line, like guys are going to get banged up. Like you’re probably going to miss, you know, a starter or two in a game at some point, right? Like, do you have the pieces in place so that when mid December, late December rolls around or when late January arrives, that these guys are fresh and can handle the, you know, the grind that comes with, with the prolonged season that you’ve never had to deal with in the past.Speaking of depth, I want to know about, first of all, injuries, obviously, like anybody. Is everybody okay? Right? Is Brandon in as healthy? Is everybody else who needs to get healthy, healthy, or guys going to be ready to go, or are you going to be a full roster heading into things? My next thing on my list isn’t necessarily a day thing. I think it’s more of a, what we just talked about in terms of the pressure and whatnot, with the three guys are bringing, because it’s, Those three guys, I don’t know if we’re not going to learn much new. I mean, actually, if you asked Denzel Burke about the quarterback, he’ll be honest with you. That’s the good thing. So if you if you’re looking for a player to ask about the quarterback, ask Denzel Burke, because his tone will tell you everything you need to know about where that conversation is. Because I remember we asked him about Will Howard, like two weeks in the spring practice. He was like, I don’t know, man. He’s I mean, he’s fine. He hadn’t done anything to impress me yet, but he wasn’t saying it cocky. He was just like, it’s been two weeks and I’m still waiting.What are you gonna do? And then he started doing some stuff. And so then I was like, okay, yeah, he’s pretty good. I love Denzel Burke, man. That’s a great personality. He’s honestly become the personality of defense as well. But with those three guys, the things I want to get into with them are they all, because they’re established stars, there’s almost a level of being reflective now that they’re sitting up on those podiums for about an hour, right? Jack Sawyer. is the first player who committed to Ohio State football program with Ryan Day as the head coach. And now here he is six years removed from that decision to commit to Ohio State. Six years he has been associated with Ohio State. That is ridiculous. I’m gonna say that to him and see how he feels about it. You’re at the end goal here, right? This is the vision you had when you signed up to go, Urban Meyer is not the coach anymore, but I’m coming anyway. Howdy, where is your head at now that you’re here with it? Hey Denzel Burke, there was a time when the Minnesota game, Thursday night, rainy game in Minneapolis. And you’re a starting cornerback as a true freshman who was rated in the mid 200s to early 300s. And we’re all like, what? Why is this guy starting? wait, it’s because the cornerbacks are not healthy. wait, it’s because the cornerbacks are not good. And now you’re on the other side of that where This is one of the best cornerback rooms in the country. And they have, I mean, at least maybe one first round draft pick in here right now. Right. I think that’s a fair thing to say. And a Mecca, a Bucca being almost maybe the punctuation of this first era of Brian Heartline wide receivers, because I think we’re all expecting him to be a first round and experience. In fact, had he not gotten injured last year, he maybe would already be in the NFL as a first round draft pick. But. We’re assuming he’s going to be a there’s almost a reflective nature with those three because of what they’ve made. It goes back to you mentioned the state of the program series. It goes back to that how you can almost tell the story of Ohio State football through those three guys. And so I think you’re right. If you’re not going to bring a quarterback and you’re not going to bring people, you’re definitely not going to bring people who are going to reveal things that you don’t want them revealing when you’re going to bring veterans like this. I think these three probably best represent.Yeah. And it seems like it’s kind of purposely done to have three guys who really represent the program, know the program, you know, in and out probably better than any other three players on the roster do. and kind of what they represent at their respective, you know, positions, like you could easily say that Ohio state’s three representatives could be Caleb Downs, Quinchun, Judd, Kitson, Will Howard, right? Like let’s go ahead and send three transfers, right? And I think, the fact that you, you know, none of the transfers are there kind of tells you like kind of the approach that they want to take with this and have, you know, three guys who really understand Ohio State football. And I think that’s, that’s what they’re doing here. And I think they’re, they’re, they’re probably the three guys on a roster that can seriously answer those questions that we had earlier about handling the pressure and the expectations because they’ve lived it, right? Like they, they knew the moment that they all decided to come back that this is what you’re signing up for, right? The pressure is going to be higher. than ever has been before. are three guys that can answer that. kind of what, what does, you know, what, can Denzel say to, know, the, rest of those defensive backs about, know, Caleb probably understands the expectations as well as anyone. mean, you know, he’s played at a program that had those types of expectations, but like, can he share with some of those other guys? What can Denzel share with some of those other guys on the defense, just in terms of, when the moment gets too big, you know, how do you kind of learn to handle that? Cause he’s been in those spots before, right? Jack’s been in those spots before. You know, you have guys all throughout the office that have been in those spots before, but those three guys specifically are kind of the leaders that you turn to in those moments of those, the pressure and the expectations and the hype being at their peak. And I think that’s why it’s going to be fun to talk to those three guys just because, you know, you can be real with them of like, you’ve lived this man, like you, know, this better than anyone of dealing with being an Ohio State football player playing against Michigan or playing in an environment like Oregon’s or playing in the college football playoff. Those are expectations that are really hard. Those are moments that are really hard to simulate, right? In practice or in fall camp, you know, how those guys learn to deal with it and how do you kind of, you know, share that with some of either the younger players or maybe just less experienced players that are going to have bigger roles thisOkay, so two other questions before we take our first break and you can tell me if I’m crazy or not. The first one, 18 teams, five quarterbacks coming. Purdue’s Hudson Card, UCLA’s Ethan Garbers, USC’s Miller Moss, Minnesota’s Max Brosner, excuse me. and Oregon’s Dylan Gabriel, which is obviously the most high profile of that group as a guy who was the most established, who were the 10 best quarterbacks in college football, Dylan Gabriel, even if he hadn’t transferred from Oklahoma, you’d probably say that about him. No quarterback from Ohio State, which you’ve already mentioned, does it matter? Does it say anything about... where this battle is headed, would it have said something if Devon or Will had come, given that one of them is a transfer and the other one is a veteran in the program, even if he’s not necessarily an established star across college football? Is it a big deal that Ohio State did not bring its transfer quarterback, specifically Will Howard, just because Oregon’s bringing Dylan Gabriel and he just got here too.That’s a good question. Honestly, I think it goes back to what I was saying earlier of just like, I need to see how Ohio State handles this to really see if that was the right move. Like if they’re going into the season and they’re saying, it’s a full blown competition and, we want to see who beats out who, and it’s going to carry a couple of games into the season. Then it’s probably the right move to not bring Will Howard because by bringing a quarterback, name and that player, your starting quarterback, like that guy is starting game one and there better be a really good reason as to why he’s not starting all your games this season, right? Like if that’s who’s going to come represent the team at media days. And I think I’m trying to think of the best way to phrase it. It’s not that Ohio State’s recruitment of Will Howard was necessarily a lot different than Dylan Gabers. I think they went out to get Will Howard in the hopes of having a starting quarterback with experience out of the transfer portal. And that is In my opinion, that’s what I think he’s going to be the starter. And I think that’s what you’re going to get. But in getting Dylan Gabriel, I think Oregon was pretty loudly saying like, this is the guy that’s stepping in for Bo Nix and it’s going to be just as good as Bo Nix, if not better. And he is everything for this team, right? This team is going to go as far as he goes. Whereas with Ohio state, I think you got a little bit more depth at the position where you could say, Hey, we can experiment. can see who our best option is, but also. If I think this year’s team, if they had Kyle McCord and what he did last year, I think it’d still be really successful. Right. And so I, as hard as it is to say, because of how important the quarterback position is, I think if Ohio state just has one of those guys emerge to be good enough, you have enough around them to be successful. Whereas with Oregon, if Dylan Gabriel is not doing what Bo Nix did last year, I’m not a hundred percent sure that they can be a national championship. I don’t want to say contender because they’re going to be in the playoff. I think you’re automatically contender if you’re in the playoff. but like, I don’t know if they can win the national title. If Dylan Gabriel’s not doing the type of stuff that Bo Nix did last year. So I almost think that the recruitment of those two guys and what the, the expectations and what’s needed from quarterback and Oregon versus a quarterback at Ohio state’s a little bit different. And that’s why I wouldn’t read maybe too much into, you know, one team having their quarterback there and one team.I Ohio State’s quarterback has the expectations to do in that realm. It’s given what the roster makeup is, if it doesn’t happen this year, it’s not the end of the world. Oregon’s pretty talented too, but I don’t, it’s a different setup. They play offense a little bit differently over there, right? It’s very easily for your quarterback to complete 78 % of his passes, because he’s rarely ever throwing the ball down the field. And how do I know that? Because I’ve been playing college football 25. That’s how I know that. Yeah.No, but more importantly, I’ve actually just been watching film on Oregon because I’m just trying to do my job. Seriously. I think you’re right. It means nothing. It’s just something that’s worth pointing out sometimes of, okay, well, there’s five quarterbacks coming. Well, Ohio State’s not one of them, even if we think we know who the starting quarterback is. Last thing. And this may be.I’ll also say, think whoever ends up being Ohio State’s backup or maybe even third string might be better than some of the guys that are coming into Big Ten Media Days.Listen, oh, we do that. Listen, we can have that conversation this month. We’ve done that every year as a matter of because Ohio State recruits the room a little bit differently where you’re going to get the lead guy every year, where it’s like, how many big 10 schools could Ohio State second string quarterback be the starter? And I think the thing is that number is dwindling as far as how many schools from where it was three or four years ago, just because. the uptick in the conference of Ohio State’s been so good at quarterback that everybody else has been told you better get a quarterback or you’re not gonna be able to compete with us. But to your point, yes, I Devon Brown could be the starter for at least half of the Big Ten still. And that’s easy to say that because that’s nine of the schools. Nine of the Big Ten. That’s it. It’s basic math, man. Who cares? Last thing before we take our break. I know we’re going long here, but it’s what we do here. This used to be a two day event.And so there was almost like this Ohio State’s the headliner every year, right? They’re the team in the Big Ten. They’re the team everybody cares about. They’re the team everybody’s coming to see. And you’ll see this even though that’s not, even though they’re going first this year, that’s still a thing. You’re going to see just how many people cover this beat on Tuesday. I’m excited for you to see it and be like, this is ridiculous. Why do so many people cover this team? Cause it’s one of the more important teams in college football. That’s why. And really just in sports in general, they’re going on Tuesday. So as you’re listening to that, that’s tomorrow, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Rutgers are joining them. And then on day two, it’s Iowa, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, UCLA, and USC. So I would just based off that list, it’s probably USC and Penn State are probably the most big time programs there. And then maybe Nebraska, if Matt rule, get something going just because they have a five star quarterback. And then on July 25th, it’s Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington, which I think is interesting that they put Michigan and Oregon on the same day, but that’s what they did. Last year I wrote this. For the first time, at least in my recent memory, Ohio State went on day one. And it felt like, they’re not the headliner of this event anymore. Michigan is now the headliner of this event. And it proved to be the right move because Michigan goes on to win a national title, wins the third straight big champ championship and reach Ohio State for the third straight time. But it’s like it’s flipped. It’s like, you’re not the people everyone’s here to see anymore. They’re here to see Michigan. It’s three days now. So I don’t know how much that will apply this time around. But I am going to ask you just that simple question. Does it matter what day you go on just from an optic standpoint? Because it has nothing to do with who’s going to win a football game, but just. In the media world, which is the world we live in, which is an optics world sometimes, does it actually matter who goes first and who goes last? And does it say anything at all about where these programs are in terms of hierarchy entering a year?think a lot of that is gonna be answered by how many people are there asking questions that last day, because I know from SEC media days, it’s a four day event. And usually those teams, I guess, stuck on the fourth day, you don’t wanna be there, because there’s not a lot of people still in town by that point. You know, like Bama has traditionally been like one of the first teams that goes like Georgia traditionally kind of in, you know, the first half of the week is going, it was a little bit different. think this year, think Texas went maybe the third day. And, like, if you’re a, like A went on that fourth day, like you can’t be thrilled if Texas could go in when everyone’s still there. And then by the time you’re going, everyone’s already gone and it’s in Dallas. Like you’re not feeling too great about it. I think what’s going to be interesting is like even for day three this year,There’s going be a lot of people there for Michigan and for Oregon. And it almost feels to me like Oregon is the headliner this year. I think the headline is always just determined by who’s got the most storylines around them, right? Like to some extent, there’s probably a lot of people who have some Ohio state fatigue of just being like,They’re going to compete for national championship. The expectations are high. Can Ryan Diga get it done this year and, and, this year’s situation, like the quarterback competition, whereas with Oregon, it’s kind of the new shiny toy that everyone wants to see, right? Like what, what is, what is Dan landing going to bring? Like what, what is Dan landing going to be someone you know, fires off some quotes that make instant headlines, right? Like is, is, is Dylan Gabriel type of guy that’s going to come in there and, and, and act like a Heisman candidate despite coming into a new conference. Like, I don’t know if it necessarily matters which day you go, but I think. the store, the, the, the number of storylines that surround you, the number of tension that surrounds you kind of determines who the headliner is. And it feels to me like Oregon is, is that team this year. I think there’s going to be a lot of interest from a lot of people of what that team looks like and how quickly they can contend, uh, enjoying the big 10. I mean, I think they’re, I think it’s right now, I would say it’s them in Ohio state competing for the big 10 title. Right. And Could that change based on Oregon playing a Big Ten slate and maybe getting stuck in some games that are slower than they would like? Sure, maybe that can change as the season goes on. But going into this, Oregon’s kind of that new team that everyone is saying, why not pick them to win the Big Ten? And that’s kind what I think makes them one of the headliners, or if not the headliner, this year’s, I should say, days.No, no, no, they’re literally the new exciting new toy and they’re doing things this off season that new shiny toys do, right? They’re creating more reason to fall in love with the idea of what they might be. And on Thursday, when they’re up to talk, it’s going to be interesting to see the split of how many people are going. Sharon, how many people are going? Dan Lanning, Dylan Gabriel, and on down the list there. But it’s the team who just spent the last three years dominating the conference and now they’re resetting and it’s the new shiny toy. While on day one, it’s like, here’s our standard. Here’s the team that’s really out in front of, I liked how you answered that. I think last year it mattered. I don’t think it matters as much this year to your point. That’s interesting that the SEC does it the opposite way. Big 10 has, they’ve saved their best for last. the SEC is like, no, we’re gonna get these guys big dogs in, we’re gonna let them out in front and then let them go home and then hope you stay for the rest.Well, some of that might have to do with if Nick Stapen says he wants to go the first day and get it done with, you’re going to let Nick Stapen go the first day and it doneNo, for sure. Yeah, for sure. For sure. And you know what? Maybe I’m not giving Ryan Dandum credit. Maybe he’s doing that too. But to your point, Nick Saban does what he wants to do unless he forgets his credential, then he can’t get in there. Can’t forget your credential, Media Man. Media Man Nick Saban. OK, that’s our first segment. Let’s take a quick break right there. And we’re going to come back and then that’s the Ohio State part of this. We’re going to speed it up a little bit. I know we just went 40 minutes on that, but I think it’s all intriguing and it’sNew and it’s a shiny new toy. So let’s take a quick break here and then we’ll come back and we’ll talk about a few more shiny new toys that are here in the bigNew shiny toy, man, that’s just stuck in my mind. I’m Stephen Means, that’s Stefan Kresnik. This is Buckeye Talk. Get the text 614 -350 -315. As you’re listening to this, we’re headed to Indy for three days of Big Ten Media Day, talking with Ryan Day, talking with Ohio State football players and talking with 17 other college football coaches and whatever 17 times story is for the players. We’re not going to talk to every single one of those. I’m just going to be honest with you. We’re not. We’re not. We’re going to talk to as many as we can, I promise. But this It’s just some of these guys, I’m not going to talk to them. have, but we are interested in some of these other things here. And we started down that, that line with Dan landing a little I am wondering with Dan Lanning, who has spent time in two other conferences, is there going to be an adjustment to how he operates now that he is in the Big Ten? And what that means in terms of culturalistically and football terms, I think is changing, right? When we were kids, you could describe what Pac -12 football was, what Big 12 football was, SEC. It was very different and it was regionally based. It’s not necessarily like that as much anymore when you’re coast to coast conferences in Texas and Oklahoma and the SEC. It is changing a little bit, but there are things that when you’re putting together program, when you’re putting together a roster that you do when you’re getting ready to play a Big 10 game, there things you do when you’re getting ready to play an SEC game. just in this world of we’re all enamored by whether or not Dan Landing is actually as good as we think he’s going to be or is he and smoking mirrors, how was he approaching this now? Because he spent two years in the Pac -12 where it was like, can you beat Washington, yes or no? And the answer was no. Now it’s like, there’s more teams who look you in the eye, but also this is a new world for Oregon and for Dan Lenning and how to go about building a program.Yeah. And I’m interested to see kind of what the, I guess, persona would be the best word of it. Kind of the way that Oregon carries itself is Dan landing coming in here being like, Hey, I’m one of the trendiest, you know, favorite coaches in the country to be coach of the year. You know, was considered one of the candidates at Bama. at least that’s what it seemed like. You know, as soon as Xsaber retired, like everyone is in on Dan Lanning. Is he coming to Big Ten media days being like, hey, Big Ten, you just added the best team in your conference, or is he coming in saying, hey, let me see how Ryan Day conducts business. Let me see how, you know, some of the other coaches that have been around in the Big Ten, I almost said Jim Harbaugh, it’s kind of, it’s going to take some getting used to him not being there. But it’s, just like, does he come in and do a bit of a wait and see like, you know, let the guys who’ve been around kind of follow their lead or see coming in being like Oregon is the best team in the big 10. We’re going to win the big 10. We’re going to win the national championship and we’re about to put, you know, the big 10 on notice. Like what, is the attitude that, that Oregon brings? I’m really intrigued to see that because they come in hot and talking smack. I don’t think they’re necessarily wrong because I think they are going to be one of the best teams in the big 10. And, and then they probably know in their back pocket, they have a home game against Ohio state that they can really, you know, send a message in that game. Um, or does he kind of sit back and say, Hey, let, you know, I’ll wait until I beat Ohio state. I’ll wait until I beat Michigan. I’ll wait until I beat Penn state. And then I’ll, then I’ll start talking and then you’ll see that, you know, I’ll let the games kind of do the talking for themselves.The fun thing is if he comes in writing checks that he’s going to have to cash on October 12th, he’s not going to write any checks, but he can. Again, some of this is tone and reading in between the lines and that stuff’s going to matter here. OK, what’s something else that you’re intrigued about that’s non Ohio State related? Because we’re going be there for three days,Oh, I want to know. What’s funny is I feel like a lot of these questions are questions. I just want to know in December, like what it looks like, but like I want to know with Penn State, like you’re no longer like. Like in the big 10, it’s been Ohio state, Michigan, and in Penn state, it’s kind of right there. The teams you kind of care about, cause you know that maybe they’ll have a chance at the playoff like.You’re there kind of a peg below now, right? Like now it’s like Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon. And then like Penn State is kind of in that boat with like USC of just like, what are you going to get from them this year? Like, are they good enough to to be maybe a fourth playoff team? Like I want to know what James Franklin Penn State like what approach they take. Like, do they continue to act like one of the or do they continue to consider themselves like a big bad team in the Big Ten? Or do they know that they’re kind of looked at? a little bit differently now with Oregon kind of coming in and being, you know, that, that third team and that upper tier. I’m really intrigued to see what, cause it’s finally feels like for the first time we’re coming into the season where it’s not, we were almost, I mean, we, in the sense of like media and national media and stuff like that, like every year you’re talking yourself into trying to get rid of that Ohio State, Michigan fatigue and being like, maybe this is the year Penn State like breaks through. This is the year that Penn State kind of dominates the big 10. And now you’re coming into this year being like, State, maybe they’re one of those last playoffs team that gets in. They’re kind of becoming an afterthought coming into this season. Does James Franklin kind of come out there and say, hey, don’t forget about us because we’re coming. And do they take that approach? I think it’s going be really interesting.It’s like, what’s that meme of I don’t want to play with you anymore. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody’s holding Oregon and Washington and throwing off Michigan state and Penn state and going, I don’t want to play with you anymore because you can’t beat good football teams. can only beat the bad football teams. I, I think it’s a good point. And the problem is I agree with you. I, I’m, I think they’re just down a peg at this point. And.Maybe there is a benefit to no divisions and there’s 12 teams in it. Maybe they benefit the most because they can sneak in to the playoff as the fourth Big 10 team. Maybe that happens this year. But, we can get into that in the third segment, but. What does that mean if you’re just making the playoff but you’re losing in the first round? Then, okay. And I think that’s a conversation in itself. Do we have to change how you evaluate head coaches going forward now that it is an extended playoff where the bar is no longer, can you make a new year six ball or if you’re Ohio State, can you get in the playoff? What are you doing once you get into the playoff? And I wonder if that starts to change as well. And I don’t wanna get into that now, because then we’ll be here from the hour and half.That is, that is, that’s what’s a relief. Like there is a fun wrinkle to this playoff that we haven’t had in years past just because like there are, understand the sense of like Ohio state at Oregon as great of a game it’s going to be, maybe it loses a little bit of intensity because you can lose that game and still make a playoff. But like these games are going to matter in terms of who’s getting a buy, who’s going to be home, who’s going to be the last team to sneak in. Right. Like there’s, I think there’s stillLike I almost think it’s more fun because there’s so many more implications. That’s kind of going off topic there, but like I just loved, I love the expanded playoff. Let’s just sayIt’s a new conversation. Yeah, it’s a new conversation versus, my favorite team lost in week six. Now my season is over and I’m just kind of going to check out and hope the next year is better. now it’s to your, whoever loses that game on October 12th, it’s like, okay, well, let’s regroup, finish out this year, put ourselves in position to get to Indianapolis, get some revenge. Right? It changes all of the, which is even more intriguing because it’s hard to be the team more than once in football. That is not an easy thing to do. Ask Ohio State back in 2019 when they dominated Wisconsin in regular season and then had to have a comeback one in the big 10 championship game. Ask Alabama in 2021 when they beat Georgia in the SEC championship game, like throttled them. Now they got some, they had some key injuries. Jamison Williams got hurt. John Metcher got hurt. Having to do that again a month and a half later and you can’t do it’s hard to do that. Very difficult. So new conversation other than just is my season opener over or not, which I think is an interesting thing in college football. Here’s the thing I’m interested in. And it’s literally the only reason I’m going to go over and talk to this guy. Nebraska’s got a five star quarterback who was Ohio State’s court 2024 quarterback Dylan Raiola. and he decided to flip to Georgia and then he decided to just follow his family. He’s got family ties to Nebraska. His uncle is on the staff there. His father was a Remington Award winner there. Nebraska is home. So if he had just ended up as Nebraska and not had that long road of I’m going to Ohio State and I’m going to Georgia, then I don’t think people would have batted an eye out at it as much. It wouldn’t have looked as crazy. But is that how this starts from that rule in Nebraska? And what does that mean? Because I don’t think Nebraska can ever be what it was in the 90s again, but it can, as we’re talking about Penn State, right? I think that that’s part of the reason I went here first. Penn State, feels like already dropping a peg. Can Matt Ruhl start to help Penn State drop another peg? Right. What if Washington, who unfortunately is starting from scratch because Nick Saban decided to retire and Kalen D ‘Oro said, SEC school I’ve gone. Can they get something going?I’m using Nebraska to talk about we’re in a new era of the Big Ten and does that change the hierarchy, not necessarily at the top where it’s still gonna be Ohio State and Michigan and Dan Landing at Oregon as long as he’s there, because I don’t know if no coach has proven, Oregon has not proven to be coach -proof in terms of sustainability, so as long as Dan Landing is there, I think those are the top three. Four through 18, is this where you’re starting to see some movement? because you’ve got Nebraska with Dylan Raola as a five -star recruit. Luke Fickle’s in year two, where he went and got Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. Where’s the movement at and who sees an opportunity?I think that’s a question you talk about Nebraska kind of seeing that opportunity to, jump up a peg. I want to, they won’t, they won’t say at media days that they’re concerned about dropping a peg, but like without divisions, where is like Iowa and all this, right? the Iowa at least had the thing where you can lean out and say that pretty much every year they were going to be one of the favorites to make it to the big 10 championship game. Were they extremely uncompetitive and a lot of those big 10 championship games? Yes. But like you could, you could still say that you were in Indianapolis for the big 10 championship game. They’re probably one of the teams right now that you’re saying they’re, not even going to make the playoff, let alone, you know, be one of the top two teams in the big 10. Like how, how does a team like Iowa stay relevant when there’s no divisions, right? Like, especially like Wisconsin, I think is common. think, I think Fickle’s a good coach. I think has a chance to, you know, buildnot, not say build a good program because they are a good program, but like get them to spot where they’re competing for a playoff. think in the coming years, um, you talk about Nebraska, like there’s teams adding to the big 10 that I’d probably say at least USC and Oregon. like more than Iowa right now this season. And I like the staff that Washington has put in place to replace, uh, to put in place. to replace the board. So like, are they a team that’s going to be better than Iowa? Like, where is Iowa fit in all this? Like, how do you stay relevant in a divisionless Big 10 if you’re Iowa?Iowa and Wisconsin in some ways over the past decade benefited from being in the other side of the Big Ten that sometimes holds the held it big 10 East back in terms of perception. And how does that change thing and who’s best prepared for that? Is Iowa no longer participating in this is why you don’t participate in nepotism and are they ready to actually play offense again? Then I don’t know. Maybe I was still there because right because they’re a lead on defense. It’s just They have us playing quarterback for them every single year. No, they don’t have us playing quarterback. They have us calling the plays and developing the quarterback. So it’s even worse than if we were to play.I think okay, I think I could have led Iowa to averaging 13 points again which is saying I know that’s what I was like the office now you when you mix that in with what the defense might do it might be 24 points a game and that’s fine because that’s gonna get you nine and three or ten and two when you’re playing in the Big Ten West not anymore though the hierarchy is just intriguing to me because it’s open right now that the fight at the top just added a new player with Oregonto go along with Ohio State and Michigan. Is Penn State as a teeter right now? Which group are they gonna end up falling in? And then if they fall down, does somebody see that and go, okay, now we can step up and we’re gonna use Penn State as a stepping ladder in that situation. Anything else? I put six on our plan. We don’t have to get the six because we’re already running long. Anything else you’re just intrigued? That’s not what you.Yeah, I’m intrigued to see how, how, how Michigan’s, you how more and how that their players kind of go about it because you have all the bragging rights. You just won a national title, but let’s be real here. Jim Harbaugh was one of the five best coaches in college football. And you could probably have a conversation about him being, you know, in the top two, top three last year. Like it’s not easy to replace them. Right. Like it’s, I think a lot of people are looking at this Michigan team saying, you’re penciling them into the playoff because it’s Michigan and of course they’re going to make the playoff. But then like, I think there’s this thought in the back of everyone’s mind, hang on, like they’re replacing Harbaugh. Like if we think Alabama is going to take a step back with Saban being gone, I mean, Harbaugh’s had a more successful last, what, four or five seasons than Saban had. and, and You could, mean, I think you could have an argument about, listen, it’s really hard to, you know, what Saban is, I mean, he’s the greatest college football coach of all time and Harbaugh’s not. But just in terms of when Harbaugh left, where the program was at compared to when Saban left, the program was at, they’re a pretty decent equal playing field. And I don’t think that’s easy to replace if you’re Michigan. like, where’s Michigan fit? Is Michigan teetering between being with Ohio State and Oregon and being kind of the next year or are they going to keep things in place and continue to be in that top tier? think is another fun storyline to kind of watch how they handle themselves at media days and kind of how the season progresses for them. Cause like I’m looking at that game, Michigan going home against Texas. Like, I mean, I’m not, I’m not too confident. don’t even, Michigan might actually be an underdog in that game. Like I’m not too confident. And that like, where, do they fit in this conversation now as they go through kind of a change at theI think he made a good point about the Nick Saban Jim Harbaugh thing in the last five years because they both multiple conference championships Both of them won a national title Yeah, that’s it’s it’s crazy when you say it because one’s Nick Saban and the other one’s not but If you’re just looking at this through a five -year window of who’s been betterI think that the thing that I would put Saban over Jim Harbrough in is because during that same span, yes, they both have a national title, but also Michigan has a year where they were below 500 while Nick Saban was just like consistently what they were worth. Saban didn’t lose Indiana, man. He didn’t lose the Indiana. That’s true. He did lose to Texas though. So we’ll see what happens with Michigan if they join that team. Okay.True, and I guess, well, Saban got replaced by a guy who had the quarterback that beat Michigan, so I’m trying to think of who started that game. No, we don’t need to go down any football route here.Well, I will say this with Michigan. This is very similar to when Ryan Day took over for Urban Meyer, where there’s some offensive questions just because you lost some production. But the defense is still pretty much intact, right? Mason Graham is back. Will Johnson is back. Kenneth Grant is back. While Ohio State, had Jeff Fakuda. You had Chase Young, you had Malik Harris. That was a similar, but there’s so many structural things. Ryan Day was left to build off of while he was turning the program into what is now his and it made in his image that Sharon Moore doesn’t have. Well, also Ryan Day hates Michigan, right? It’s just, and it’s almost the same thing with Kaylin DeBoer down in Alabama. I don’t know. I don’t want to go that far down with the SEC stuff, but. It’s just Nick Saban left a lot for Caitlin DeBoer. He lost a couple of pieces, right? But Seth McLaughlin was leaving anyway and he lost Caleb Downs. But so much of, with Ryan Day and Caleb DeBoer, the guy that they replaced, the legend they replaced, left enough in place that while they were making it their own, they could sustain. I don’t know if that’s going to be true with Sharon Moore or not. And I think those are some things that are going to get answered this year when you’re starting from scratch the way he might be starting from scratch, it can make some things a little bit more difficult. The other thing I’m interested in is, are we going to get down there on Monday and we find out the big 10 out of two more teams? I just, I, I just want to get to where we’re going. I, that’s the one thing I do agree with every college football coach in America right now is that idea of like, we’re still getting towards whatever this sport is going to be in 15 years. And so along the way, it’s a lot of. USC in Washington are joining the Big Ten. UCLA and Oregon are also going to join the Big Ten. Texas and Oklahoma are going to the SEC. California is in the Atlantic Coastal Conference. Stanford is in the Atlantic Coastal Conference. Make it make sense, man. Change the name of the conference because that doesn’t you’re the Atlantic Coastal Conference and you have a team who is literally on the Pacific Coast.Literally, the ocean is right around the corner from the school. I promise it is. No, it’s not because it’s in Berkeley. But still, you get the point of what I’m saying is what’s next, right? We’ve all been there. You get the media days and then there’s two new teams coming in. So now it’s like the it’s the huge media drop of news right before you’re getting ready to talk to. the president of your your conference, right? Thank you. I know he came out this past week and was talking about there at 16 and that’s where they’re going to stay for right now. And we’ll see. Right. It sounds good until I don’t know, Florida State or Clinton or somebody wants to join the SEC. Who knows? But at least for now, it seems like that’s the case. I’m wondering if Petite is going to come out and try to say something similar to where we’re at 18 right now. We’re at 18 tomorrow. We’re at 18 and we’ll see where we’re at in a couple of right now. The plan is to stay at 18.Yeah, I think the, the wording that’s come out too, in terms of like Florida state and Clemson, um, it’s kind of like everyone’s kind of been saying, long as the ACC exists, Florida state and Clemson are not joining the SEC in the big 10. And it’s like, well, as soon as one of those teams leaves that conferences doesn’t exist anymore. like those things kind of go hand in hand. So it’s like, you can say, we’re not taking Florida state because as long as the ACC exists, the Florida states and the ACC.But if Florida State says, we’re going to go during the big 10. That’s because the ACC no longer exists because those two teams have left. So I think that that’s going to be interesting to see kind of how it unfolds. I’m not fully bought into Florida State seems like an obvious fit and kind of Clemson to being part of the SEC. So it’s almost kind of like, I almost need to see it to believe it, which like, I mean, in theory, we’re to get that this year because for force, a Clemson will be in the ACC this year, It’s going to be interesting to see just like a side note funny story of the SEC. I was there in 2021 in Birmingham when they had SEC media days when the news dropped. I believe the Houston Chronicle broke that of Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC and it’s typical like radio row. Greg Sankey was maybe like the second or third day. He’s just kind of making his rounds. I think he was talking to like Louisiana like radio station like just talking whatever and the news breaks andThere’s just like this little like folding table with these two guys interviewing Senki and a couple reporters trickle over, a few more. Eventually there’s a mob like just standing around Greg Senki waiting for him to finish this like radio hit. And sure enough, as soon as he gets up, everyone’s just waiting for him to say no comment, but no comment is a comment of just being bombarded like why in the world during SEC media days is this news leaking and just creating.an absolute disaster show in Birmingham. that’s, that was in case anyone’s wondering how the news broke to Greg Sankey that the news broke. That’s how he found out that the news was outIt’s not that it broke, because that’s when that stuff breaks, right? Before there’s gonna be big media stuff. It’s the fact that it broke while he was already doing something else, or he could just go hide away somewhere, or get prepped for it. He just has to deal with it right there in his face and show that he’s a pro who could just go, no comment. I’m just wondering, what’s Tony Batidi, excuse me, not house, the Big Ten seventh commissioner, who is on his second year in the job, I believe.What’s his wording when he’s getting asked some of these questions on Tuesday about where the conference is headed, expansion, all those different things, conversations about college football, playoff and everything else that has to go into it because it just feels like every year that’s where we’re living where it’s, this team is jumping to this conference. the Pac -12 has two teams in it right now, which I think they should just have the Pac -12 championship game right now. Right now, just play it right now because it doesn’t need to go to Las Vegas because there’s teams inAgain, MLB All -Star week, like just slot in the Big 12 title game. We need football. Just a little fix.Yeah, just slotted in right there in the middle of it. Forget it. Yeah, forget about it. OK, let’s take our last break and we’ll come back and we’ll wrap up with just maybe a bigger conversation about the pick 10 as we enter this new era of the college football playoff for 12 teams here on Buckeye Talk. And we’re back on Buckeye Talk at the Tech 614 -350 -3315, two week free trial, 399 after that. We’ll be in Indy for the next three days texting off of what Ryan Day has to say, what Big Ten commissioner, Tony Petitti has to say, what head coaches have to say, what players have to say. This is a really good time to get it, plus ball camp is right around the corner. Okay, 12 team college football playoff. The Big Ten has 18 teams, the SEC has 16 teams. The Pac -12 has a roster. The Big 12 has a certain amount of team. Listen, it’s the SEC in the Big 12. We know where this is going. What’s the minimum number of teams the Big Ten need to get into the playoff this year that would mark as a successful season? And maybe you can say this every single year, but when you’ve got 18 teams and there’s 12 spots, how many of those 12 spots should be going to Big Ten teams for you to go, okay, the Big Ten had a pretty quality football season?think it needs to be three probably every year. Maybe you’re going to have your exception of occasionally year where you only get two, but like for every season that you get two, you’re probably hoping you’re responding a couple of years on the road with four, right? I think three is that middle ground. Like you should be averaging three because I can say with 99 .9 % certainty that the SEC every year will have at least three teams in it. The SEC champ, probably the runner up and probably one or two more teams. If the SEC is getting four every year and you’re getting three, I think you’re fine. You get into a danger zone if you’re only getting two teams in, right? I think it has to be three. And I think the three right now are pretty obvious of Michigan, Ohio state, and Oregon of being the three you think could get in. Can someone emerge as that four team? think going into this year, I don’t see it. I mean, is Penn State kind of your best bet of who would be that fourth team this year specifically?Yeah, I asked our Texas at 61435 about 3315 and it’s pretty firmly Ohio State and Oregon had the most. There’s like a gap. Penn State is third, actually, right now. Our Texas are still they have the same amount of questions we have about Michigan. And so Michigan was fourth on the list. But there’s a gap. It’s Ohio State and Oregon. And then it’s a gap. And then it’s Penn State. Then it’s a gap. And it’s Michigan and then Iowa, Wisconsin, Rutgers, USC, Nebraska and Washington all got at least one vote as well. But.So, so, so our textures are more confident in Penn State being the third team than they are Michigan rightI think that’s because Michigan has so much new while with Penn State, maybe you think Drew Allers better as a second year starter, third year in the program. Yeah. I get where they’re coming from. There’s maybe more stability in July before we’ve seen them play football about what things might be. Then there is, we’ll see come October what these teams look like.I think three needs to be the bare minimum they get every single year. And you brought up why the SEC is going to, I think their bare minimum needs to be three and they should be fighting to get, think seven spots every single year are going to go to the big 10 in SEC. And every single year, those two conferences are going to be fighting for who gets to have four that season. So if you get into a world to where you’re talking about where you only have two, you’re opening up a world where that other conference might get five. or there’s just another group of five team who’s awesome or maybe the big 12 or ACC has a great year. But this is now a, we have more college football playoff teams in your conference competition every single year until the end of time, or they expand the playoff to 16 teams. Or maybe we get the NCAA tournament style and it’s 134 teams and it’s just one big brawl every single year. I think.I think that’s where this is. This is now the Big Ten has its teams who you know are staples with one or two that are like, okay, they’re entering a new era. Let’s see what happens for the Big Ten. That’s Michigan. And for the SEC, that’s Alabama. That’s the one where it’s like, we think you’re going to be really good, but you’re starting something new here. So we’ll keep you on hold while the SEC has Texas and Georgia. The Big 10 has Ohio State and Oregon. And then that next level is where like Oklahoma and like Penn State probably live in their, in their conferences. Those teams and then whoever just pops up, they’re going to be fighting to get four teams knowing both of them have three and the tiebreaker every single year is going to be, is our fourth best team better than your fourth best team? And I think that’s what matters. The other 12 teams at both conferences, I think are irrelevant in this conversation of trying to figure out who’s the better conference on a year to year basis.Well, here’s what worries me about the long term in this conversation for the Big Ten. What worries me is a level of fatigue, which we have to acknowledge exists. And also if Penn State makes it this year and they’re one and done and don’t look competitive playing, let’s say they’re playing at Ole Miss or something like that, that’s going to be remembered next year when the playoff committees, as much as I say You know, just that year alone, we know that’s not true, right? Like we saw many times that we see Oklahoma or Washington or even Cincinnati, they get pummeled and the next year it’s like, I don’t care if this team goes undefeated, they’re not getting into the playoff again. Right. And I worry that you’ll, you’ll have Iowa state Oregon, think consistently will be playoff teams and Michigan and Penn State kind of the next year, like can one of them be a team that consistently gets in? like, when I look at the SEC.I see less worry about fatigue in the sense of I think Georgia and Texas will probably be staples. And then after that, like you’ll have years where it’s Batman, Oklahoma, you’ll have years like this year, I think it could be Ole Miss and Mizzou. I think you’re going to have, you know, Auburn, they’ve shown in the past that they can win national championships. have the resources for it. Hugh Freeze has been successful coaching in the SEC and when he was at Ole Miss, I worry that the Big Ten is going to get to a point where it’s going to be every year, it’s going to be Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, and or Penn State. And there’s going to be a conversation where it’s like, okay, is the last team going to be Penn State again? Or, and let’s say Penn State’s made it two, three years in a row or, wait, Oklahoma is really fun this year. wait, Ole Miss is really fun this year. Missouri is really fun this year. Like that fatigue sets in and you’re looking at saying, we love Penn State in the last couple of years, they weren’t competitive. Well, if we toss in Ole Miss, like at least that’s a new color scheme that’s coming in and Lane Kiffin’s offense is fun. I mean, if Penn State’s just gonna lose anyways, let’s, let’s just toss in Ole Miss to give them a chance instead. Like that’s where I worry kind of long -term where it’s not, it’s not going to be an issue. I don’t think for the Ohio States and the Oregon’s, but for Penn State, could end up being a problem where if you’re consistently that number 10, number 11 seed. Um, and meanwhile, the SEC is, you know, having teams like Missouri and Ole Miss who are occasionally kind of filtering through there, they’re going to get the benefit of the doubt just because of that fatigue factor. And that’s where I start to wonder like you for the Big Ten as a whole, you need USC and Washington and Penn State and Michigan to consistently be giving you something where you don’t have that level of fatigue of just being like it’s the same three to four teams every year and we’re over it. Like you need some flavor getting mixed into there a little bit.just think you need the teams that get in to compete. And that’s what Ohio State, because that’s the thing. Ohio State lost that game with Georgia, but I don’t think anybody walked away from that game thinking Ohio State didn’t belong on that stage. That’s what, or lose, I think that’s what has to happen. Now you do need some wins, because this is the business of wins and losses. Ithink it can be the same teams. mean, I just think they need to be competitive. I think to your point, if what happened to Ohio State in 2016, right, where they got on that stage with Clemson and then got blown off the field, did score, maybe that did have an impact on why they did or didn’t get in in 17 or 18. Should it have? Probably not. What also hurt them was they went to Iowa in 17 and got blown off the field. And so it’s like, don’t deserve to be here. You went to Purdue in 2018 and got blown off the field. You don’t deserve to be here.If they’re getting on, if Penn State and, we’re not talking about Ohio State and Oregon at this point, you’re correct. I think those two teams are just, if they’re not in a playoff, we’re asking questions about what’s going on with your program. Michigan, once it figures out whether Sharon Moore is the guy long -term or not, which I think we’re all going to be doing this year is trying to find traits and things that show signs that this is still headed in the right direction. They’re going to be in the same conversation as Oregon and Ohio State. Penn State. Washington, Lincoln Riley at USC, which I have been on record saying, I don’t know if I believe in that right now and where that’s headed. think Lincoln Riley is very good at video game quarterbacks. I don’t know if he’s good at everything else that has to do with playing with being a good college football program. And I think he benefited from the fact that Oklahoma was in the big 12 all those years and they were getting on that stage. And as you just mentioned, getting their blow doors blown off, you have multiple playoff appearances and yet to win a playoff game. I have questions for Lincoln Riley when USC goes on Wednesday, clearly. I’m not just going to say things on this part and not ask him about these things. But I just think as long as they’re competitive, that doesn’t necessarily matter the flavor conversation. just think I think it will matter if Penn State keeps being the 11 seed and keeps losing. That’s going to matter. But if your pro, if your big 10 teams that are consistently getting in are getting in, being competitive and making waves in the playoff, that’s a good thing for the big 10. And it’s a good thing really for Ohio State and Oregon, where you’re talking about who’s going to get the one seed every single year, right? Because if it’s an undefeated SEC team, it’s an undefeated big 10 team. I think last year opened the door that the big 10 can win that argument because the first rankings, Ohio State was number That said something to me at the time. Now obviously they ended up losing to Michigan, but Michigan was the number one seed. So that’s the things that are gonna tell you, how many times does the SEC get the big number one seed? How many times does the Big Ten get it in a world where they’re equal? They both have the same resume, conference champs, maybe a loss, or maybe they’re underpreated depending on how their season goes. Let’s close with this. In the name of expansion, we have to do two.because you can’t have odd numbers in conferences. If the Big Ten were to announce this week, at some point, not they wouldn’t announce it this week, but reports would come out of these two teams are going to be next to join the Big Ten, and you got to be the one to pick those teams, who would they be?I think that’s the one that just geographically makes the most sense. And I think Notre Dame is in a spot to probably be a playoff contender every year. Does that mean they’ll win a playoff game? Who knows? But that would be probably the first team not like, are you saying that like Georgia and like Bama are off limitsI mean, if you want to go that crazy and say they’re going to leave the SEC, then have that in.If, in all honesty, if, if Georgia and Ohio state ended up in the same conference, it’s probably not the big 10 or the sec is probably a new thing that’s forming. Yeah. Um, I think nor name would probably be the number one team I go after. And I’d probably say Florida state. think for say to Clemson are kind of, I just, I don’t see a world in which if they leave the ACC, they’re not joining the sec, butIf you’re the big 10 and it’s clear that you wanted to go out West and you wanted to get some of those big markets on the West Coast, like the next big area missing is kind of the SEC territory and getting Florida state and being right smack dab in the middle of Florida when it comes to recruiting and stuff like that would be big for the conference. So I’d probably say Notre Dame one, Florida state two, Clemson three.I’m trying to look up and see if either one of those schools are or a you schools because that’s going to matter too. Right. Because it’s you’re not just talking about the football aspect of this. You’re talking about the the overall aspect of some of this stuff. I just think Florida State’s like perfect for the Big Ten. I understand they’re in Florida, but I think they have a lot more in common with Big Ten’s programs than they have with the SEC. In all honesty, just throughout history, I would throw Miami in that even though right now they’re getting kind of crazy. And I know they’ve been at the center of a lot of the NIL. you know, concerns that people have had and whatnot, though no one has ever actually proven anything. But I think they would be interesting ones because that was going to be my whole thing was, I mean, you’re in the West Coast, you’re in the East Coast, you’re obviously in the Midwest, you’re even in the Southwest, kind of with Nebraska. Why not? Let’s go get in the Southeast and see what you can do in the Atlantic part. So I would say I would have said Florida State, so I’m to stick with that answer, even though you stole it.Do you think there’s a conversation about A to be had? If they’re living like little brother too long, I mean, it’s, Texas is coming into the SEC and they’re coming in hot and they’re going to compete for an SEC title and a national championship. And A is going through coaching change and they got all the talent in the world, but they never seem to put it together. And it had been frankly bad the last couple of years, Do they try to get away and say, let’s go join the big 10. We can have success in the big 10. We can be one of the three or four teams that are consistently making the playoff in the big 10 and we can get out of Texas a shadow. don’t know if you, I don’t know if like, not logistical. I don’t know if that looks good on paper for you. Like it’s kind of a bad look if you run away from Texas, but is if the money’s there, like, do you doI mean, they’re a university, so they fit that bill, which I think most of the big tenants, that’s why I’m bringing that up. And that’s the Association of American Universities, by the way, for people who don’t know what the acronymI get the concept of the Big Ten is now in Texas. So let’s talk about it. So they fit the academic part of this, and I think the concept fits. So let’s talk about Texas A before we wrap up here and not make this an Aggies pot. Now what helps is Texas A &M’s athletic director is now Ohio State’s athletic director, Ross Bjork. I just don’t think Texas is that good of a college football program. I think Texas thinks it’s in a tier it’s not. So even your language there, I can tell you’ve been in the SEC of, oh, we can go try to be one of the top teams in the Big 10. I don’t agree with that. I think they would leave the SEC and you would say what, they’re a tier two SEC program? I think that’s a fair.They’re like, yeah, talent and resources are a tier two production and actually doing something with that talent resources are like a tier four.I mean, they might honestly, in terms of resources and talent, they might be tier one. Like they’ve, they just had a number one recruiting class. Like they have all of the oil money in the world.and they’re all gone and they all left. If they put their mind to it, they can have the resources to be a tier one program. But their execution is tier four, which is why I put them lower tier two, upper tier three program in the SEC. I think it would be the exact same thing in the Big Ten. And they would get they would join the conference thinking they’re taking a step up. and be like, we’re just the same thing in a new house. You are what you are. And that applies to sex. And that’s where I get with the Lincoln Riley stuff where it’s like, you might just be what you are, man. And that’s you’re good at developing this, but you’re not good at a program. So that’s let’s not go too deep into that because I don’t know how much people care. But that’s just where our heads are heading into this week where college football is crazy. Ohio State’s maximizing its championship window while also the Big Ten has new people potentially trying to poke holes in just how much Ohio State can do in maximizing its championship window. All three of us in Indianapolis, this is the first time all three of us are going to be in the same room together. To be fair, I haven’t seen Andrew in person in a month, so it’s fine. And I’ve never seen Stephane in person. So this is going to be a lot of fun, man. We’re here, man. I know, man.Because it’s crazy because we’ve been in the same building before, but it’s because, you I don’t know you exist. You don’t know I exist. So like, why would we care? Now we it’s like, oh, yeah, we were in the same building before. So it’s whatever season is here. Big 10 media days, Tuesday through Thursday. Get the text 614 -350 -3315. Fall camp starts the first week of August. The 2024 season is here, as is a new era of college football, as is a new era of Buckeye Talk. And that was Stefan Kreisnick and I’m Stephen Means. And we’ll see you later. 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