Big Ten Media Days 2012: Biggest Stories from Annual Conference Festivities

It is no secret that everyone wanted to talk about Penn State during the first day of the Big Ten media session that took place on Friday. Anything else would just feel secondary, though there were plenty of items to talk about all over the conference. 

Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien was put under the microscope again and has been making the media rounds to say all that he must in order to keep his current players and let future recruits know what he and the university can offer. 

Here are the biggest news stories to come out of Thursday and Friday's Big Ten media day press conference from Chicago. 

BILL O'BRIEN GOES INTO FULL SPIN MODE

No coach has a tougher job entering the season than Penn State's Bill O'Brien. Happy Valley is not going to forget Joe Paterno anytime soon, and when you add in the sanctions the NCAA placed on the football program and trying to keep players, this is going to be an interesting year. 

O'Brien said (via ESPN.com) that none of the penalties levied against Penn State are going to break him or the football program. 

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"At the end of the day, life's about a lot of things," he said. "NCAA sanctions aren't the end of the world."

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The Penn State football program is going to need O'Brien's resolve in order to stay afloat over the next decade. Whether the powers that be keep him around that long is another story. 

URBAN MEYER MAKING HIS MARK AT OHIO STATE

Unquestionably the best and most famous player Urban Meyer has ever coached is quarterback Tim Tebow. 

Despite not seeing his new quarterback at Ohio State, Braxton Miller, play in a game since he was hired as coach, Meyer had no problem telling the media that Miller's skills are better than Tebow's. 

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"Braxton Miller has a lot of skills that Tim didn’t have. Braxton Miller is dynamic, he’s the most dynamic athlete I’ve ever coached at quarterback. What I just said, people should go, ‘Whoa.’"

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That might be true, but Miller has a long way to go before reaching Tebow's level of performance on the field. You have to love a coach pumping up his players, though. 

WISCONSIN DOESN'T WANT TO BE FAVORED

The Big Ten Leaders division is missing a lot of drama because Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible for postseason games this year. 

In a classic game of "one of these things is not like the other," the teams vying for the division will be Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Purdue. If the Badgers don't win it going away that will be an upset of epic proportions. 

The good news is head coach Bret Bielema has made it so this team doesn't buy into their own hype, at least that is the impression you get listening to them speak . 

Here is what running back Montee Ball had to say about the state of the Legends Division and how Wisconsin is approaching the season (via ESPN.com):

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"It's more pressure on us, which is good because we love it. We already had pressure before the Penn State deal because we are two-time champions in the Big Ten. We're trying to get a third one."

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Given the talent Wisconsin has, and the lack of depth in the division, this team looks like as close to a sure thing as there is in college football. 

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