The 10 most interesting things to come out of Day 1 at Big Ten Media Day

We try to keep politics out of sports but the coaches and commissioners keep trying to put them back in.

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti took the podium first at Big Ten Media Days, immediately trying to justify gerrymandering the College Football Playoff and rigging the system.

He wants an expanded playoff field to 16 teams with a model that guarantees the B1G four slots in the field.

Petitti said, "We want to better connect the regular season & postseason. We want more conference games to matter in November." He insists he wants to "keep as many teams alive as deep (in season) as possible"

"If you're 6-3 in the Big Ten, I would argue that's a good record. If you stumble in the non-conference I don't know why that would disqualify you (from playoff contention."

He admitted sending a letter to the NCAA, advocating for no further penalties for 2023 National Champion Michigan in their sign-stealing scandal.
"We did send a letter but I'm not going to address the contents of the letter we sent."

That's an answer right out of a Congressional hearing. Admit nothing. Deny as much as possible.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti defended his school's out of conference scheduling policy, which has the Hoosiers playing nothing but cupcakes at home for the next four years. Last season they went all the way to Week 12 before playing a team with a winning record.

"We figure we'd adopt an SEC scheduling philosophy," Cignetti said. The goal at IU appears to be to embellish the record with a Charmin-soft nonconference schedule. This year they host Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State (Larry Bird's old school) before facing Illinois and Iowa in Big Ten play.

That's a bold strategy, Curt. But he does have a point.

Illinois head coach Brett Bielema favors playoff expansion. "It's at 12 teams, I hope it goes to 16. I'm not gonna go (Eli) Drinkwitz & go to 30," he said.

He marvels at the drastic ways college football has changed, with schools paying players openly and directly. "Holy (expletive). The world has changed."

Bielema confided that Las Vegas is special for him, the place where he met his wife Jen Hielsberg. They married in 2012.

Ryan Day told Pete Nakos of On3 Sports that he believes the Big Ten is the best conference in football. He said,
"I think we've got some really good teams. Our play over the last couple of years has spoken for itself. Look at the results and national championships from the league."

Reporters asked the Buckeye head coach about being defending national champions. Day said, "We're not defending anything. They can't take the trophy away. We're looking to attack and win a trophy with this team."

Maybe so, but there's still the possibility that the NCAA could take away MIchigan's title. That's why Petitti is lobbying so hard while admitting as little as possible.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano revealed an interesting philosophy regarding in-game penalties. Schiano told reporters, "I never want to be playing for no penalties because then you aren't playing hard enough."

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