The College Football Playoff format continues as a top talking point for the sport. The Big Ten took its turn to have a say at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday.
Commissioner Tony Petitti, Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Indiana coach Curt Cignetti were all among those who called for the Big Ten's proposed model, which would give four automatic qualifiers each to itself and the SEC, two each to the Big 12 and ACC and one to the top-ranked Group of Five champion with three at-large bids in a 16-team bracket. Day and Cignetti went a step further by suggesting that the number of conference games should be standardized in schedules, seeing inherent advantages for the SEC with its eight-game league slates to the Big Ten's nine.
Talk of NIL and revenue sharing was also pervasive as big-picture items go, but that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of Buckeye-specific conversation from Day and Ohio State's three player representatives: Jeremiah Smith, Caleb Downs and Sonny Styles.
Styles and Downs glowed about defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Defensive tackle depth remains a concern for Ohio State, but a less-discussed name in that conversation was the first out of Day's mouth on Tuesday – Will Smith Jr. Could he provide relief to Kayden McDonald at nose guard in 2025? It's a storyline to follow entering preseason camp for the Buckeyes.
Eleven Warriors' Dan Hope and Andy Anders discuss those takeaways, the latest on the quarterback competition, what to expect from Matt Patricia's defense and much more on a Big Ten Media Days edition of Press Coverage, which you can watch at the top of the page.
