Michael Cohen College Football and College Basketball Writer

Talking season in college football began earlier this month when the Big 12 kicked off the sport’s annual media days caravan at The Star in Frisco, Texas, where commissioner Brett Yormark and the league’s coaches were inundated with questions about implementation of the House v. NCAA settlement, potential tweaks to the College Football Playoff format and the offseason spending habits of Texas Tech. 

Next came the SEC’s turn in the spotlight, which began on Monday in Atlanta, with commissioner Greg Sankey describing his league as a “super conference” and then waxing poetic about both its strength of schedule and sphere of influence in the ongoing discussions about playoff structure. 

One week from now, on July 22, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti will have his chance to respond to everything his colleagues have said when the league begins its three-day media event in Las Vegas, a locale that reflects the conference’s coast-to-coast membership. For the second straight year, each day will feature representatives from six programs:

Day 1: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers

Day 2: Minnesota, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Washington, Wisconsin 

Day 3: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, UCLA, USC

To preview the event, FOX Sports analyzed every team ahead of the 2025 campaign. Here’s what to expect from Day 1 at Big Ten Media Days: 

Illinois

Luke Altmyer #9 of the Illinois Fighting Illini celebrates after a touchdown in the first half against Northwestern. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

Last year: 10-3 overall, 6-3 Big Ten
Postseason: 21-17 win over South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl
Head coach: Bret Bielema, fifth season, 28-22 at Illinois
Coordinators: Barry Lunney Jr. (offense); Aaron Henry (defense)
Recruiting: No. 46 nationally, No. 13 in the Big Ten 
Transfer portal: No. 43 nationally, No. 13 in the Big Ten 

Key storyline: The formula concocted by first-year Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti in 2024 demonstrated to the college football universe exactly what’s possible in this expanded playoff era, when the right combination of coaching, player acquisition/retention, veteran leadership and favorable scheduling come together simultaneously in a fairytale season. Many fans and analysts are seeing a very similar mold at Illinois, where head coach Bret Bielema retained both coordinators and 17 starters from a group that reached 10 victories for the first time since 2001. The Illini are led by one of the league’s most experienced quarterbacks in former Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer, now in his third year atop the depth chart, and an offensive line that returns all five starters. A relatively modest schedule includes winnable non-conference games against Western Illinois, Duke and Western Michigan, while also avoiding Big Ten powerhouses Oregon, Penn State and Michigan. That means the expectations surrounding Bielema’s program, which is likely to be ranked among the top 20 in the preseason AP Poll, are soaring ahead of what some believe could be a magical run toward the College Football Playoff. The biggest question is how the Illini, a team unaccustomed to consistent winning, will handle that level of anticipation on a weekly basis. 

Indiana

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti reacts during the fourth quarter against the Michigan Wolverines. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

Last year: 11-2 overall, 8-1 Big Ten
Postseason: 27-17 road loss to Notre Dame in CFP first round
Head coach: Curt Cignetti, second season, 11-2 at Indiana
Coordinators: Mike Shanahan (offense); Bryant Haines (defense)
Recruiting: No. 47 nationally, No. 14 in the Big Ten 
Transfer portal: No. 22 nationally, No. 6 in the Big Ten 

Key storyline: An unexpected darling from the 2024 campaign rode the roaching acumen and bravado of Cignetti all the way to the College Football Playoff, where an in-state matchup with blue-blood Notre Dame gave Indiana an incredible platform despite the eventual loss. Shrewd talent evaluation and development skills shown by Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan when it came to quarterback Kurtis Rourke, a former MAC standout at Ohio who developed into a seventh-round pick with the Hoosiers, made Indiana a desirable destination for veteran signal-callers in the transfer portal. That the Hoosiers landed Cal standout Fernando Mendoza, the No. 22 overall transfer and No. 4 quarterback in the portal, speaks to the impression Indiana’s work with Rourke made on potential targets. Former Maryland tailback Roman Hemby (No. 237 transfer, No. 15 RB) and former Northern Illinois cornerback Amariyun Knighten (No. 163 transfer, No. 17 CB) were two more high-profile pickups. A rebuilding defense retained arguably its three best players in edge rusher Mikail Kamara, linebacker Aiden Fisher and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, all of whom received some form of All-American recognition last season. So can the Hoosiers be darlings once more?

Maryland

Maryland head coach Michael Locksley is seen during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Last year: 4-8 overall, 1-8 Big Ten
Postseason: None
Head coach: Mike Locksley, eighth season, 33-41 at Maryland
Coordinators: Pep Hamilton (offense); Ted Monachino (defense)
Recruiting: No. 25 nationally, No. 8 in the Big Ten 
Transfer portal: No. 34 nationally, No. 10 in the Big Ten 

Key storyline: There was a puzzling inequality between the success Maryland enjoyed during this year’s NFL Draft and the on-field product it put forth last fall amid the team’s worst Big Ten season since 2019, when Locksley first took over the program. Six of Locksley’s former players heard their names called in late April to form the Terrapins’ largest draft class since 1986 and increase the total to 15 draft picks over the last four years, a stretch in which Maryland never finished above .500 in conference play. Still, accumulating talent has proven fairly easy for Locksley, whose last five recruiting classes all landed among the top 40 in the national rankings. Prior to last year, when the league officially nixed divisions, Maryland’s inability to parlay recruiting victories into actual victories could be written off as a product of the relentless Big Ten East, where Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State all lurked. But that excuse wasn’t available in 2024 as the Terrapins crumbled without facing the Buckeyes or Wolverines. The hiring of a new athletic director in May means there’s even more pressure on Locksley to deliver. 

Nebraska

Dylan Raiola #15 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers takes photos with fans after a win against Wisconsin.  (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)

Last year: 7-6 overall, 3-6 Big Ten
Postseason: 20-15 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl
Head coach: Matt Rhule, third season, 12-13 at Nebraska
Coordinators: Dana Holgorsen (offense); John Butler (defense)
Recruiting: No. 22 nationally, No. 6 in the Big Ten 
Transfer portal: No. 13 nationally, No. 2 in the Big Ten 

Key storyline: Though Nebraska ended on a positive note by upending Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl, there was still an air of dissatisfaction considering how poorly the second half of the season unfolded. In mid-October, the Cornhuskers were 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten entering a highly anticipated road game against then-No. 16 Indiana. What followed was a humiliating 56-7 beatdown in which quarterback Dylan Raiola tossed three interceptions and Nebraska fumbled three times. That loss kickstarted a string of four consecutive defeats that drained much of the momentum from Rhule’s second season. Aware that his roster lacked top-end talent, Rhule responded with a spending spree in the transfer portal that produced the No. 13 class in the country and No. 2 haul in the Big Ten, trailing only Oregon. The Cornhuskers added numerous plug-and-play starters, including former Kentucky wideout Dane Key (No. 34 transfer, No. 10 WR), former Missouri edge rusher Williams Nwaneri (No. 36 transfer, No. 3 DL), former Alabama offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett (No. 45 transfer, No. 6 OT), former Oklahoma linebacker Dasan McCullough (No. 123 transfer, No. 4 LB), former Notre Dame right guard Rocco Spindler (No. 139 transfer, No. 10 IOL) and former Cal wideout Nyziah Hunter (No. 200 transfer, No. 35 WR). How well those additions perform relative to the price tags they undoubtedly commanded will be a strong barometer for Nebraska’s trajectory this fall.  

Ohio State

Julian Sayin #10 of the Ohio State Buckeyes plays during the first quarter of the Ohio State Spring Game. (Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images)

Last year: 14-2 overall, 7-2 Big Ten
Postseason: Victories over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame en route to national title
Head coach: Ryan Day, seventh season, 70-10 at Ohio State
Coordinators: Brian Hartline (offense); Matt Patricia (defense)
Recruiting: No. 4 nationally, No. 1 in the Big Ten 
Transfer portal: No. 26 nationally, No. 7 in the Big Ten 

Key storyline: One of the driving factors behind Ohio State’s run to the national championship last season was the continuity that peppered both the roster and the coaching staff at critical positions, with so many familiar faces returning after the 2023 campaign ended without a trip to the College Football Playoff. Those strong retention efforts preserved the nucleus of head coach Ryan Day’s lauded 2021 recruiting class that eventually produced eight starters on the title-winning squad. Since then, however, the fallout from reaching college football’s mountaintop has included changes at offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, offensive line coach and quarterbacks coach, not to mention the 14 Buckeyes selected in this year’s NFL Draft, one of whom was signal-caller Will Howard (sixth round, No. 185 overall). All of which invites plenty of questions entering 2025 regarding how much change is too much change for a legitimate title defense: Can first-time playcaller Brian Hartline match the success enjoyed by predecessor Chip Kelly, now of the Las Vegas Raiders? Can former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia, the Buckeyes’ new defensive coordinator, salvage his reputation at the collegiate level? Is former five-star prospect Julian Sayin ready to step forward and win the quarterback job in his true sophomore season? Those are just a few of the unknowns from an attempted repeat that has been all about the moving parts thus far. 

Rutgers

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano during the second half of a game against llinois. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)

Last year: 7-6 overall, 4-5 Big Ten

Postseason: 44-41 loss to Kansas State in the Rate Bowl

Head coach: Greg Schiano, 17th season, 94-101 at Rutgers

Coordinators: Kirk Ciarrocca (offense); Robb Smith and Zach Sparber (defense)

Recruiting: No. 32 nationally, No. 10 in the Big Ten 

Transfer portal: No. 51 nationally, No. 16 in the Big Ten 

Key storyline: Over the past two seasons, both of which ended with bowl games, running back Kyle Monangai was the unquestioned focal point of Rutgers’ offense under freshly hired offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, formerly of Minnesota. He handled the workhorse role with aplomb by shouldering 498 carries for 2,541 yards and 21 touchdowns during that span, earning All-Big Ten recognition in both campaigns. What the offense will look like without Monangai, who was drafted by the Chicago Bears earlier this spring (seventh round, No. 233 overall), remains to be seen as the Scarlet Knights seek a third consecutive bowl appearance for the first time since winning 23 combined games from 2012-14 under Schiano and former coach Kyle Flood. The likely replacement is former Florida Atlantic standout CJ Campbell Jr., who carried 165 times for 844 yards and 11 touchdowns last season before joining the Scarlet Knights via the transfer portal — though it’s worth noting that Monangai’s backup, Antwan Raymond, chipped in 113 yards and three scores in the bowl game against Kansas State. Together, Campbell and Raymond will support mobile quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (251 rushing yards, 3 TDs) to form a three-headed attack on an offense that returns seven starters, including four along its veteran-laden offensive line. 

Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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