Ultimate Guide to 2015 Big Ten Media Days

With fall camp mere weeks away, the Big Ten will hold its annual media days later this week, which, along with the Pac-12's hosting in Los Angeles, will bring a wrap to such events for the Power Five conferences in college football.

But for the first time in a long time, the Big Ten can claim that the sport is merely saving its best for last, as the league is the home of the reigning College Football Playoff champion, Ohio State.

But it won't just be the Buckeyes creating headlines in Chicago this upcoming Thursday and Friday, with Jim Harbaugh's Big Ten media days debut sure to make waves across the college football news cycle. Factor in a Michigan State program that's hoping to crash this year's playoff, a Penn State program on the rise and two new coaches for a pair of West Division contenders, and there may not be a more anticipated media days event in all of college football this offseason.

With that in mind, here is our ultimate guide to this week's Big Ten media days.

The Setup

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As opposed to past years, where coaches and members of each Big Ten team met with reporters on both days, this year's event will feature an updated format.

Taking the SEC's lead, Big Ten media days will now feel more like an event than a press conference, with half the league meeting with the media on the first day, and the other half being featured on Day 2. That should maximize the attention that's placed on all 14 of the conference's members this week, rather than having the same names and storylines dominate both days as they have in the past.

Hosted at Chicago's Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, both days will start with press conferences from the league's head coaches, and will then be followed by breakout sessions at roundtables with players and coaches. The only difference between Day 1 and Day 2 is that Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney will hold his annual press conference on the latter day between the coaches' pressers and breakout sessions.

Also remaining a staple of Day 2 will be the annual kickoff luncheon, which will take place after Delaney's press conference. Representing the league's players as speakers at the event will be Ohio State linebacker Joshua Perry and Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld.

The Schedule

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While the order of coaches press conferences on both days has yet to have been released, here's what we know about the tentative schedule for this week's Big Ten media days. (All times CT.)

Thursday, July 30

12-1:45 p.m.

Head coaches press conferences (order to be determined): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin.

1:45-5:15 p.m

Breakout sessions for the aforementioned teams' coaches and player representatives, including:

• Illinois: RB Josh Ferguson, OL Ted Karras, LB Mason Monheim
• Indiana: DL Adarius Rayner, OL Jason Spriggs, QB Nate Sudfeld
• Iowa: OL Austin Blythe, DB Jordan Lomax, DL Drew Ott
• Maryland: K Brad Craddock, DB Will Likely, OL Andrew Zeller
• Michigan State: OL Jack Allen, DL Shilique Calhoun, QB Connor Cook
• Ohio State: OL Taylor Decker, LB Joshua Perry, DL Adolphus Washington
• Wisconsin: DB Michael Caputo, RB Corey Clement, QB Joel Stave

Friday July, 31

8-9:45 a.m.

Head coaches press conferences (order to be determined): Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers.

9:45-11 a.m.

Press conference for Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney and other conference speakers.

11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, including player speakers Joshua Perry and Nate Sudfeld.

2-5:45 p.m.

Breakout sessions for the aforementioned teams' coaches and player representatives, including:

• Michigan: LB Joe Bolden, WR Jehu Chesson, LB James Ross
• Minnesota: DB Briean Boddy-Calhoun, DL Theiren Cockran, QB Mitch Leidner
• Nebraska: QB Tommy Armstrong Jr., DB Nate Gerry, WR Jordan Westerkamp
• Northwestern: DB Traveon Henry, WR Christian Jones, SB Dan Vitale
• Penn State: DB Jordan Lucas, OL Angelo Mangiro, DL Anthony Zettel
• Purdue: WR Danny Anthrop, OL Robert Kugler, DB Frankie Williams
• Rutgers: WR Leonte Carroo, DL Darius Hamilton, OL Keith Lumpkin

The Coverage

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In line with the Big Ten's recent rise in stature, the Big Ten Network will provide more than 13 hours of coverage from Chicago this week, at least doubling its coverage of the event from a year ago. All 14 head coaches' press conferences will air live on the network, in addition to players making appearances on live episodes of BTN Live.

The Big Ten Network will also air a tape-delayed version of the Kickoff Luncheon Saturday.

Below is the Big Ten Network's tentative schedule for media days coverage. (All times CT.)

Thursday, July 30

12-2 p.m.

Big Ten coaches press conferences

2-6 p.m.

BTN Live

Friday, July 31

8-11 a.m.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney's press conference

2-6 p.m.

BTN Live

Saturday, August 1

6 p.m.

Kickoff Luncheon Special

Additionally, ESPNU will be carrying coverage of Big Ten media days as a part of ESPNU’s College Football Media Days. All 14 of the league's coaches' press conferences will be carried, either live or on tape delay, from 12-3 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday.

The Questions

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For fans who follow Big Ten football closely, few of the questions that will be asked this week will be earth-shattering.

In fact, they'll most likely be questions you've heard before.

But that won't make Urban Meyer getting grilled about Ohio State's quarterback competition or Jim Harbaugh dodging questions about the transition back to Big Ten football—and just about anything else—any less entertaining. It will also be refreshing to hear questions asked about what it's like for the conference to be on top of the college football world, rather than what the Big Ten needs to do to get there.

That's also not to say that there won't be an interesting anecdote or two emanating from the Windy City later this week. Just a year ago, Buckeyes tight end Jeff Heuerman compared Braxton Miller's importance to the Buckeyes to that of NBA megastar LeBron James, while Meyer issued an open invitation to the Cleveland Cavalier to attend every Ohio State game.

It remains to be seen what nuggets will ultimately be gleaned from the Chicago interview sessions later this week. But with a sudden collection of college football head coaching stars, there's no doubt they'll be out there.

The Poll

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Unlike the SEC and ACC, the Big Ten doesn't release an official preseason prediction poll at its annual media days. The closest to such that exists for the league is Cleveland.com's annual conference poll, which was released on Monday.

And to the surprise of no one, Ohio State was a runaway winner.

Voted on by 40 media members covering the conference, the Buckeyes were chosen as a unanimous selection to repeat as both East Division and Big Ten champions. Michigan State followed in second place in the East Division with 240 point totals, with Penn State (186.5 points) in third and Michigan (163.5 points) in fourth.

In the West Division, Wisconsin was selected as the favorite with 32 first-place votes, followed by Nebraska (five first-place votes) and Minnesota (three first-place votes).

Just how accurate the Cleveland.com poll will wind up being remains to be seen. But it will undoubtedly be a talking point in Chicago later this week.

Players to Watch

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While the Big Ten doesn't participate in an official preseason poll, it does release an annual "players to watch" list at each media days. The list is typically comprised of a mix of the conference's returning stars, as well as players poised for breakout seasons in the upcoming year.

With last year's list possessing 10 players, here is a stab at who will make this year's cut:

• Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott
• Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa
• Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones
• Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook
• Michigan State defensive end Shilique Calhoun
• Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg
• Rutgers wide receiver Leonte Carroo
• Maryland cornerback William Likely
• Wisconsin running back Corey Clement
• Indiana quarterback Nate Sudfeld

The Big Ten's official list of players to watch should be released Thursday.

What It All Means

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While Big Ten media days provide an opportunity for reporters to meet with coaches and players on the eve of training camp, the event also serves as the unofficial kickoff to the league's upcoming season. From here on out, there should be no shortage of storylines in the college football world with the season a mere month away.

That rings especially true in the Big Ten, where Harbaugh has dominated the offseason headlines and Ohio State is embarking on a potentially historical campaign. The Big Ten doesn't only have the appearance of a league on the rise, but one with great staying power for the foreseeable future.

All that and more will be discussed later this week in Chicago, as the annual Big Ten media days will likely garner more attention than it has in recent memory. But it won't take much for the event to live up to the hype, as there's only so much one can get out of two days' worth of interviews with players and coaches.

On the field this fall, however, will make for an entirely different story.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.