Heather Dinich Of ESPN On New Big Ten Rivalries, Oregon, Ohio State and More | Dirt & Sprague

uh Heather can you hear us I got you you got me all right oh my God will can you get on the mic and clap this is the Heather Den this is a good friend of the show we haven't had her on in a while how you doing Heather I'm terrific how are you guys uh you know what we've been a little envious of get up but we watch every day in our studio and we go ah there's our good friend Heather Den we used to just get her on the radio but she's do big time now you're on ESPN daily uh congratulations on all your success so far it's great to see you on the national show thank you I appreciate that um you know I'm going to go ahead and credit Oregon and USC and UCLA and Washington and Texas and oklah they have a little something to do with them there's a little more to talk about right now well what is it like to kind of walk around I know you're you're talking to a lot of big wigs your your movers and shakers out there what's it just like I was talking to Miller Moss at USC and he grew up watching the Trojans his mom's a Stanford fan I'm like is this weird to you he's like Yep this is weird to me is it weird to everybody else covering the sport or in the sport of just like hey there's Washington and Oregon logos here at Big 10 media day yes it's weird and I say that having the perspective of being an Indiana graduate and I'm I'm here and I I landed at the airport in Indianapolis where I landed so many times when I was a student flying out here from Pennsylvania and you know you get here and you walk in and the Oregon Duck is in the river on social media and I'm just like where am I this is Indianapolis um and and also what are the people thinking who are just walking around town and have no idea what's going on here in Lucas Oil Stadium um so it's strange but at the same time we're all used to Oregon and Ohio State playing right we've seen we've seen that movie before and when they get on the field it's going to be normal because that's college football and it's going to be a great game but now it has implications for the Big 10 standings well what's interesting and we're talking to Heather denich here ESPN find her on Twitter uh she covers the sport does a great job coming in the playoff as well um joining us live from Indianapolis you know one thing we've talked about is these schools going to these new conferences the one big thing about college that I think all of us love is like pageantry and rivalry and hey Oregon hates Cal and and and you know just random rivalries that nobody in America thinks about or about that are real for us are we going to miss that with this and you've alluded to something that I was thinking about yesterday listening to Ryan day and Dan landing's the preseason coach of the year in the Big 10 and they're coming in with a lot of juice they haven't played in the regular season they think played one time in like the last 25 plus years they've met in bowl games in a way they come in this year without having been conference foes and it feels like that game is going to feel like a rivalry given what the narrative's been about Oregon and Ohio State bringing back such a loaded team and defending kind of the big 10's traditional powerhouses well and it's what's interesting to me so a couple points here the rivalries are different in the SEC they talked last week about gaining some rivalries with Texas playing the agies again and Arkansas and they made a point of emphasis on that because there are some others that will be lost like Oklahoma Oklahoma State right and those kinds of things are what make college football so special and unique one of the things that could happen in the college football playoff I'm not sure if people realize is teams have the potential if the stars align to play each other three times which could create new rivalries because Oregon and Ohio State could play in the regular season they could see each other again in the Big 10 championship game and if the seating Falls right they could play again in the college football playoff which is crazy same thing could happen with Ohio State Michigan um so that possibility is open but you think about Ohio State having to go to Aon which I've been to is a fantastic difficult place to play right but then you also have UCLA that has to go to ruter right and and Penn State and you think about these trips and it's just mindblowing some of the travel and Big 10 commissioner Tony batiti talked about that a little bit yesterday when he spoke to the media and and said that travel is going to be hard the one thing they did is they prevented CrossCountry trips and back-to-back weeks for teams but he said that they will continue to evaluate travel for All Sports across the board as the season unfolds how many Big 10 teams in your mind are when you talk about playoff like we we're weary that the the SEC uh Network which is Under the Umbrella of you guys I I said this last week like they're already kind of teeing up I think there's five teams here that should make the playoff and like they're already getting that narrative out there as we saw last year narratives matter Florida state gets hosed after being undefeated I'm curious when you look at the big 10 how many teams to you if we're in a 12 team expanded playoff year one how many do you view as playoff teams how many could the Big 10 get in I think three is a realistic number and if you're comparing that to the SEC I think four is a realistic number for the SEC I think the secc's deeper quite honestly but I think that has yet to play out in the Big 10 because when I look at the Big 10 I see Ohio State at the top Oregon and then who's that third team is it Penn State they do have something to prove right Michigan has a lot of questions after losing so much from last year's National Championship team is USC a contender is can Wisconsin be a long shot team there's room for more but what no one knows including the college football playoff selection committee is will a three lost team get in you're definitely going to see a two loss team but the fact of the matter is in the SEC and the Big 10 it's going to be really really difficult to finish with even two losses for some of these teams because it got harder when the conferences added the teams that they did so you know I think three is realistic and of the you know pre-season what we know on paper Penn State to me would be that third team for the Big 10 but they've got a tough schedule too I mean good grief they could leave lose their season opener West Virginia yeah West Virginia is one of those under the radar teams Heather dnit joining us here ESPN live at Indianapolis Big 10 media day uh your thoughts just seeing maybe blurbs or watching the press conference of Jim Phillips in the ACC we in Portland our two cents was it just had a lot of George cleof last year energy of like no no no we're great we're we're amazing we're in this with everybody else and I know there's been a lot of noise thoughts on the acc's current landscape where their powerhouses seem to not be happy and they're saying everything's all great we're a great conference I can just picture Jim Phillips face cringing if he heard you compare him to George G Am I Wrong Heather didn't it come off a little George CLE cough like Hey we're in a great spot right now um in a in a way yes the difference is that it's a big difference the difference is with George at this time last year he was trying to get a TV deal yes and the ACC is locked into one and that's causing all of the frustration and tension and lawsuit so in a way it was good for the ACC for Jim Phillips to come out and so staunchly defend the conference and say this is not good for the league because he hasn't been very public about really some strong feelings that he obviously has and for him to do that I I think was the at the right time at the right moment and also everyone at every other media Days Every commissioner is getting asked about the ACC how close are you paying attention to it you know sanki was asked about it petiti was asked about it y Mark's always asked about it so excuse me it's it's a real issue but I think if you're in his shoes you're saying and doing the same thing uh we'll get you out of here on this one cuz we do appreciate the time it's nice to catch up with you really it is and and we know you're crushing it over there at ESPN if the ACC if something is to happen with some of the bigger players who don't seem very happy is the pivot for the ACC maybe do they reach out west coast like we have two schools out here that kind of got left out of the the Pack 12 dealings and they're just trying to keep us keep a float uh in this landscape this weird landscape of college football Oregon state Washington State ACC futures question mark yes I would I mean I wouldn't rule anything out because conference realignment is never over they need to find a home um they you know you would expect and I'm sure that Mountain West um commissioner Gloria narez and Pack 12 commissioner Teresa gold are having conversations about the future of both their leagues and and what the best option is for those two schools they want to be power five money power for money right they want to be resources and everything that's attached with that would they have that opportunity I don't know the answer to that right at this as we sit here this very moment but you know it's hard not to imagine them Landing in a spot that is power for but at the same time it didn't happen yet you know it's like it's like uh musical chairs right and they they didn't get they didn't get picked so I don't know guys it's it's a tough situation for them to be in it there's no other answer to that yeah there for sure is good stuff Heather denn joining us in Indianapolis Big 10 media day Heather it was great to catch up with you we' really like if your schedule opens up at any point during the football season to get you back on and talk about what's happening during the season thank you for joining us and again congratulations it's it's great to see somebody who's worked their tail off be rewarded and see you on the national shows almost every day now the football season's back thank you guys so much I'm happy to join you and you guys are in Big 10 country now so get used to it there we go b1g Oregon thanks Heather thanks there we go Heather denich joining us live from Big 10 media day good stuff from her