Bob Asmussen | Fly on the wall

INDIANAPOLIS — From the home of the Indianapolis 500: coaches and players, start your engines. And get ready for Big Ten football, which kicks off in 36 days when Illinois hosts Eastern Illinois, Minnesota plays North Carolina and Rutgers entertains Howard.

After attending Big Ten media days on Tuesday at Lucas Oil Stadium, here is what I learned, as I embark on my 35th year covering the Illini football program:

1 Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti opened the morning with some breaking news: The league will continue to hold its championship game at Lucas Oil through 2028.

“We’re really comfortable with the decision to stay in football here in Indianapolis for the next four years,” the commish said. “We think it’s the right thing to do.”

How about instead of four years, the Big Ten goes with forever?

There will never be a better football venue for the conference than the one in the capital of Indiana. Centrally located for most of the schools (sorry, Pac-12ers, but you don’t get much say for now).

Sure, the league will want to venture west at some point for a championship.

“Given the footprint of the conference, the cities that are now interested in hosting Big Ten champions has clearly expanded,” Petitti said. “It’s really important to make sure that markets around the country get to experience Big Ten championships. It’s a really good way to expand the conference.”

My suggestion would be to do that with other sports. Leave football alone.

With the 12-team playoff starting this season, the stakes are too high for the Big Ten to send its title game opponents all the way across the country.

Keep it simple. Keep it in Indiana.

2 Michigan won the most recent national title despite facing an NCAA investigation into its coaching practices.

What has Petitti heard about the probe? “I don’t know the timetable,” he said. “I’m not aware yet when the NCAA will come to any final determination, whatever that might be.”

Petitti reflected on how the Big Ten handled the issue.

“I can tell you it was a collaborative process inside the conference office,” he said. “There was a lot of cooperation with the NCAA in terms of the information it had access to, working with our administrators and ultimately our presidents and chancellors, as well.”

Petitti came to the Big Ten from Major League Baseball, which has had more than its share of suspensions in recent years.

“You go into that with a lot of respect and try to understand and do what’s fair and try to protect the entire conference,” Petitti said. “That’s the approach we took.”

Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, at the center of the controversy, left before the conference could take more action. He is now the big boss of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

3 Petitti just added four teams to his conference. He is not in a hurry to do it again. As far as we know.

Remember, the original dip into the Pac-12 was only going to bring Southern California and UCLA. But within a short time, Oregon and Washington were on the way, too.

“It’s a complete match across many different factors,” Petitti said of the Trojans, Bruins, Ducks and Huskies. “We feel really good about the way we’re positioned for the future.”

He’s not willing to talk about further expansion.

“We’re focused on the 18 right now,” Petitti said. “A lot of work had been done to integrate USC and UCLA. We started that work over immediately when we added Oregon and Washington. I think we’re really comfortable where we are. We’ve got to get this conference right.”

4 No coach had a lengthier opening statement than Illinois’ Bret Bielema. The fourth-year boss used most of his 15 minutes, leaving time for only one question in what is supposed to be a Q&A.

Actually, Bielema was cut off after 12 minutes. And seemed surprised by the early end with a “that’s it?” comment.

Reporters later had a chance to talk to him at individual podium sessions.

Just a suggestion to the nice folks in charge of the Big Ten: go straight to questions.

5 The NFL has been filled for years by players from the Garden State. In his second stint at Rutgers, Greg Schiano is wisely first looking at home for New Jersey-based prospects.

“Recruiting and retaining the best players in our back yard, New Jersey and New York, is critical to our success,” he said. “But it’s not just New Jersey or New York players. It’s the right New Jersey and New York players. The (recruiting) rankings and all that stuff don’t mean a heckuva lot to me.”

6 Schiano is bullish on his star tailback, senior Kyle Monangai.

“What Kyle does best is he has an incredible patience to view, to watch, to wait, but when he makes the decision to go, he’s a violent runner,” the coach said. “He’s doesn’t stop. I’d say 98 percent of the time he is falling in the right direction.”

7 Wisconsin made dramatic changes to its offense in the first season with Luke Fickell as coach.

Known for its ground game in the past, Wisconsin now wants to pass. And Fickell thinks he has the guy ready to do it.

Tyler Van Dyke transferred to Madison from Miami. Fickell is a fan.

“I can say a lot of great things about Tyler,” Fickell said. “Tyler has walked in and embraced everything with our program. Understood what he was walking into, the ups and the downs, the things that we needed from him. He understood he was going to have to earn everything.”

Van Dyke experienced adversity at Miami, which Fickell thinks helps him at Wisconsin.

“I expect him to continue to grow in his leadership role,” Fickell said.

8 A year ago, the Northwestern contingent at the Big Ten media days included one person, coach David Braun.

Rocked by the hazing scandal that led to the ouster of longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats didn’t bring any players to Indianapolis in 2023.

It is mostly back to normal in Evanston, with Braun hired full time and the team coming off a winning season.

“It’s been really unique,” Braun said. “A year of firsts. A lot to learn. Personally, it’s been incredible.”

How did the team survive the turmoil?

“It took all 103 that chose to stay,” Braun said.

9 Yes, the Purdue players and coaches know they are picked 18th in the Big Ten by a poll of media members (note: I had them ahead of Indiana).

Second-year coach Ryan Walters and his 37 new guys don’t like it.

“Everyone has chip on their shoulder that grows by the day,” the former Illinois defensive coordinator said. “As much as you try not to read opinions of your program or yourself or your players, you still hear it. I’d be naive not to address it with the team.”

10 On the opposite side of Purdue and its No. 18 ranking in the Big Ten is Ohio State, which has a chance to be No. 1 in the nation going into the season.

Or No. 2 at the worst.

Like Walters, Ohio State coach Ryan Day isn’t ignoring the elephant in the room.

“Any time you’re at Ohio State, you’re going to have expectations,” Day said. “There’s always going to be chatter. There’s always going to be noise.

“Our guys, they know what the expectation is. We’re not going to shy away from that. We want to win the rivalry game (against Michigan), be in this stadium right here, win this Big Ten championship and win a national championship.”