INDIANAPOLIS — In what has become an annual summer tradition, local and national media members unite at Lucas Oil Stadium for Big Ten Football Media Days. This time around, plenty of extra seats lined the turf as the conference debuted the four new West Coast teams of UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington. The Big Ten’s 18 teams converged on Tuesday, but only the top two will be back in Indianapolis in December for the title game – a contest that will stay at Lucas Oil Stadium through 2028, conference commissioner Tony Petitti announced. 

Petitti, who sits at the helm of the largest conference in the nation, emphasized the change unfolding this season but stopped short of saying the Big Ten would expand anytime soon. As football powerhouses Florida State and Clemson attempt to leave the ACC, Petitti admitted success on the gridiron as a frontline factor for expansion but said he isn’t currently eyeing the schools as potential additions. 

“We’re focused on the 18 [teams] now,” he said. “We’re really comfortable with where we are. We’ve got to get this conference right.” 

Nevertheless, the 2024 Big Ten season will be an unprecedented one, complete with thousand-mile flights, Friday night games, and new replay review systems. The teams navigating this schedule also sport different looks than last year as player and coaching rosters continue to evolve. 

More travel, more tech, more TV time

The Big Ten was the first conference to institute an instant replay review system for football back in 2004, and 20 years later, it will mark the anniversary with a substantial improvement. Petitti said the conference will unfold a centralized replay center based in Chicago. Last year, a similar center was located in Pittsburgh. The center will have 24 video stations, 18 devoted to replay and six dedicated to medical observation. 

“It allows us to review plays at the same time as monitoring the health and safety of our student-athletes,” he said. 

Bill Carollo, the Big Ten’s Coordinator of Officials, expanded on the center, describing how the process of challenging a call on the field won’t change, but that the final decision will come from Chicago. 

“Everybody wants to get it right,” he said. “It’s one more set of eyes and ears listening and watching the play … There’s a lot of pressure, but we just want to get a little better, and if we can avoid one catastrophic error.”

Carollo said the main goal for conference officials and the replay center is to establish consistency on what can be subjective calls such as targeting and making a catch. 

As for potentially establishing a mic system that would broadcast the communication between the officials on the field and those in the center, Carollo said the idea had “sprung legs” in recent years but “isn’t quite there yet.” 

Another new feature in the 2024 schedule is the consistent presence of Friday night games on FOX. Twelve Big Ten teams will play at least one contest on Friday, starting with Nebraska hosting Illinois on Sept. 20. This decision has drawn complaints from coaches who want to reserve Fridays for high school games where recruiting is conducted.  

Even with this potential drawback, Petitti said these Friday night games are opportunities to showcase teams in a national spotlight with reduced competition from other airing contests. 

“There are traditional places that want to play on Saturday, we understand and respect that,” Petitti said. “It’s a league discussion that involves all 18 teams about the best way to format our schedule … Where we go will likely change over time but collectively we understand that we’re all doing this together and we’ve got to make every telecast opportunity work for the conference to be as strong and healthy as we can.”

One of these Friday night games pits Iowa against UCLA, which means a nearly four-hour flight for the Hawkeyes as they venture to California. For Rutgers and its east coast isolation, even pre-expansion travel was tedious, but this October, the Scarlet Knights will make a six-hour pilgrimage for a matchup against USC on the 25th. 

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, who has had his fair share of travel while at the helm of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, argued that weariness to travel was overblown. 

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to go out there and block, tackle, catch, and play the game of football,” he said. “I think sometimes we get all caught up in semantics with these trips and things, it’s still football, and that’s been our focus.” 

Keeping the emphasis on football, here’s what head coaches and players from the Hawkeyes’ upcoming opponents had to say about the upcoming season.  

Ohio State 

Head coach Ryan Day has only lost eight times during his tenure with the Buckeyes, but still finds himself on the hot seat after losing to rival Michigan three consecutive seasons, casting the school in a three-year Big Ten title drought. First-year offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will take the playcalling reins from Day as Ohio State looks to win its first College Football Playoff game since 2021. 

Kelly, who boasts previous head coaching stints at Oregon and UCLA, as well as the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, brings a variety of offensive concepts to the table, Day said. These include the spread, a no-huddle tempo, as well as three tight end and two running back sets. 

“The idea is what fits our guys,” Day said. “It starts with the quarterback, then it goes to the offensive line, the running backs, the receivers, all of that put together … It’s my job as head coach to make sure it fits complementary football across the board.” 

After last year’s starter Kyle McCord transferred to Syracuse, Ohio State is left with multiple options under center, most notably Will Howard, who arrived in Columbus this offseason after four seasons with Kansas State, where he threw for 2.643 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2023. 

“He’s developed at a rapid rate,” teammate Emeka Egbuka said of Howard. “You see him get better and better after each practice, which is really encouraging to see.” 

Egbuka, who bypassed the NFL Draft to stay another year in the Scarlet and Gray, will be the top target in Kelly’s offense after the departure of wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., who was selected No. 2 overall by the Arizona Cardinals last April. After piling up 515 yards in  2023, Egbuka looks to increase his production alongside five-star recruit Jeremiah Smith. 

“If the ball is anywhere in our vicinity, we’re going to come down and catch it,” Egbuka said. 

Wisconsin 

After posting a 7-5 regular season mark last year, including a heartbreaking loss to Iowa at Camp Randall, Wisconsin aims to bounce back with a new face in the quarterback room and a stable of running backs in the wake of former Badger standout Braelon Allen. 

In his first season at Madison, offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s Air Raid offense stagnated under quarterbacks Tanner Mordecai and Braedyn Locke, who combined for two games of 250 passing yards or more in 2023. The Badger passing attack received a boost this offseason with the addition of QB Tyler Van Dyke from Miami, who tossed for at least 250 yards five times last campaign, including a 391-yard effort against North Carolina. 

For head coach Luke Fickell, it’s not just Van Dyke’s stats that shine, but also his demeanor as he transitions to a new program and his endurance through adversity. After playing under three different offensive coordinators with the Hurricanes, Van Dyke is equipped to adapt. 

“He’s got a humility behind himself,” Fickell said of his QB. “When he walked in the door, he knew he was going to have to earn everything, he understood it would be a battle and there wouldn’t be keys handed to him. But I think the greatest thing about Tyler is his ability to refocus.” 

Badger left tackle Jack Nelson echoed such praise of Van Dyke, explaining how the 6-foot-4 senior made quick friends with the offensive line group, buying them pizza and partaking in poker nights and bonfires on campus. 

Allen, who earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from the Associated Press last season, is off to the New York Jets, but in his stead is Chez Mellusi and Oklahoma transfer Tawee Walker, each of whom averaged at least five yards per carry last season. 

“We’ve got a lot of new talent, old talent as well,” Nelson said. “I think that everything’s coming together and it’s just the perfect opportunity to really take off with this offense.” 

Northwestern 

Last year’s consensus Big Ten Coach of the Year David Braun is back in Evanston with his interim tag removed after a shocking seven-win improvement in 2023. The Wildcats fell to the Hawkeyes last season at Wrigley Field, and this year will continue to compete elsewhere as the school builds a new and improved Ryan Field. In addition to the Friendly Confines, Northwestern will host its home games at a temporary stadium along the shores of Lake Michigan. 

“There’s excitement around the team, excitement around the university,” wide receiver A.J. Henning said. “We’re going to be in our backyard, so there’s a level of familiarity. We go out there and practice every day, so we’ll be prepared.” 

Located near the dorms, the new stadium will be an easy trek for students, but as for facility space for opposing teams, Braun said he wasn’t aware of the details. 

In a similar fashion to Ohio State and Wisconsin, Northwestern also brought in a transfer under center. Mike Wright heads to Big Ten country after four seasons in the SEC with Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, where he completed no less than 53 percent of his passes each season. 

“He’s really meshed well with the team,” Henning said of White. “Seeing the type of athlete he is, throwing the ball, being able to make all the throws, knowing he’s agile enough to make plays with his feet – it’s been big. He’s going to be pushing that quarterback room.”