I-70 Football Podcast: The B1G new media deal, potential New Year Six bowl teams

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Holy Land’s I-70 Podcast. On this show, we talk all things Big Ten football and basketball. After every week of action, we will get you caught up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players that you should be paying attention to in the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.

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We are a few weeks away from the start of the 2022-23 football season, so it is time to switch gears from offseason talk to diving headfirst into real football content. What better way to start football season than ranking teams and picking games?

In our season preview series, we rank the Big Ten into four tiers: Non-bowl tier, lower-bowl tier, New Year’s Six Bowl tier, and Contenders tier. We also predict records and finishes for all 14 teams, leading to a total of 168 games picked. In addition, Dante and Jordan talk about the three programs they believe have the best chance to make a New Year’s Six Bowl game.

Before we get into that, we discuss the rumors and leaks surrounding the Big Ten’s new media deal. While it has not been officially announced, there is enough information worth discussing. In a move that is surprising to some, the Big Ten’s next media deal may not include ESPN. According to sources, the Big Ten is partnering with FOX, CBS, and NBC with exclusive windows at Noon, 3:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m., respectively. Jordan believes ESPN made a mistake they’ll regret by going all in on the SEC and expecting the Big Ten to play second fiddle. Dante questions if fans care what channel the games come on and if there are starting to be too many options on where to watch games.

The guys then get into their preview, starting with Purdue. On a rare occurrence, Jordan and Dante both have Purdue at 9-3, with the same wins and losses. Aidan O’Connell enters the season with his draft stock on the rise. Can he lead his team to a Big Ten West Championship? Mel Tucker and the Michigan State Spartans are looking to build off of last year, but they were ahead of schedule. Are they due a step back? How far can this team go without Kenneth Walker III? With their entire secondary returning can they improve after being the worst passing defense in the country last season?

Michigan enters the season with high expectations and an enormous amount of turnover, After losing Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo, and Dax Hill plus their offensive and defensive coordinators, success will be an uphill battle. Any success starts with picking a quarterback, and there is a major battle brewing between incumbent starter Cade McNamara and former five-star J.J. McCarthy.

The guys get their pit stops out of the way early as Jordan tries to convince Dante to buy Madden 23, and Dante talks about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first preseason game.

Connect with us on Twitter:

Jordan: @JordanW330

Dante: @DanteM10216