Five storylines to watch at Big Ten Media Days

CHICAGO - The 2016 season unofficial kicks off on Monday with the annual Big Ten Media Days at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago.

While we'll cover everything there is know from Nebraska at the event, we also decided to take a look at five of the most intriguing storylines from around the league heading into the start of fall camp.

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh certainly hasn't slowed down in his off-the-field antics heading into his second season in Ann Arbor.

Whether it's been riling up the SEC by pushing the limits on satellite camps, starring in a rap video, or making NBA legend Michael Jordan his team's honorary captain for the season opener, Harbaugh continues to find his way into the national headlines every chance he gets.

However, the question is whether his continuous spectacle will translate into the Wolverines contending for a Big Ten championship by season's end?

The Wolverines are coming off a solid 10-4 campaign in his UM debut, and they currently rank third in the 2017 Rivals team recruiting rankings.

This season should paint a much clearer picture of whether there's actually some substance behind the Harbaugh hype train.

It's nearly impossible to label one team as the clear favorite in the Big Ten West Division because in reality five of the seven teams can make a legitimate argument for that title.

To start, Iowa is coming off one of its best regular seasons in program history and returns the bulk of its roster from a team that 12-2 and earned a Rose Bowl berth. Was last year just a fluke? Or are the Hawkeyes for real?

There's also Wisconsin, which is settling into Year Two under head coach Paul Chryst and looks to be getting back to its power football style of old with a retooled offensive line that could be as good as any in the league.

Don't forget Northwestern, which is coming off a 10-win season of its own and also brings back a wealth of experience on both sides of the ball, including maybe the best running back in the conference in Justin Jackson.

Minnesota is technically breaking in a new head coach, but Tracy Claeys has been with the program since 2011 and will basically pick up right where Jerry Kill left off. That means the Golden Gophers should once again be one of the most physical teams in the Big Ten, led by senior quarterback Mitch Leidner, who is somehow already being projected as a potential first-round draft pick.

Finally, Nebraska looks to be a completely different team after an ugly 6-7 season in Mike Riley's first season at the helm. If quarterback Tommy Armstrong can take care of the football and an inexperienced defensive line can grow up in a hurry, the Huskers just might be the biggest sleeper of all.

Of course, Illinois made some news with the hiring of former NFL coach Lovie Smith, but the Illini still look to be a few years away. Oh, and Purdue is still Purdue.

There will be a handful of new faces at the podium during this year's Media Days. In all, four new head coaches will be taking the reigns in 2016, and all four will face very different circumstances in their Big Ten debuts.

Claeys has by far the easiest situation given the very limited transition. He's been with the Gophers for five seasons now and was already the interim head coach for much of 2015 after Kill was forced from the sidelines due to his medical condition.

Smith was definitely the biggest splash hire of the offseason, as the longtime Chicago Bears coach joined Illinois in March just before the start of spring ball after the sudden firing of Bill Cubit (who was the interim hire following the sudden firing of Tim Beckman).

The other two new coaches are Chris Ash at Rutgers and D.J. Durkin at Maryland. Ash brings some clout to the Scarlett Knights as the former co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State the past two seasons.

Durkin was the defensive coordinator at Michigan last year after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant at Florida, including serving as the interim head coach in 2014 following the departure of Will Muschamp.

Maybe the biggest change the conference will see in 2016 is the move to a nine-game conference schedule for the first time.

Despite Big Ten coaches unanimously voting against the move last year (according to Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald), the Big Ten decided to eliminate a non-conference game and add an additional league tilt.

The Big 12 and Pac-12 also use a nine-game conference schedule, while the ACC and SEC remain firm on an eight-game conference schedule.

In addition, the Big Ten now requires teams to schedule at least one Power Five opponent during the non-conference every season, while also eliminating the scheduling of FCS level teams.

No other Power Five conference features those scheduling requirements, and add in the Big Ten Championship game, the league will definitely have to earn its way to the College Football Playoff more than any other conference.

After much debate over what the future would hold for the TV rights of Big Ten Conference football and men's basketball games, it's expected that commissioner Jim Delany will officially announce a loaded new deal during the Media Days festivities.

The Sports Business Journal reported that the Big Ten and Fox have reached a deal worth $240 million annually over the next six years for rights to half of the conference’s available football and men’s basketball games.

On top of that, the Big Ten also reportedly agreed to a $190 million annual deal with ESPN for the rights to the other half of the league's football and basketball broadcasts. Additionally, CBS will pay the conference another $10 million for rights to men's basketball games.

In all, the new contracts are poised to give each Big Ten institution an estimated $31 million in TV revenue per year for the next six years, which doesn't include what they're already getting through the league's Big Ten Network.

That's something all 14 fans bases can actually be happy about.

EAST DIVISION

Indiana: Dimitric Camiel, Sr., OL ; Dan Feeney, Sr., OL; Marcus Oliver, Jr., LB.

Maryland: William Likely, Sr., DB; Jermaine Carter, Jr., LB; Michael Dunn, Sr., OL.

Michigan: Jake Butt, Sr., TE; Amara Darboh, Sr., WR; Jourdan Lewis, Sr., CB.

Michigan State: Riley Bullough, Sr., LB; Josiah Price, Sr., TE; R.J. Shelton, Sr., WR.

Ohio State: J.T. Barrett, Jr., QB; Pat Elflein, Sr., C; Raekwon McMillan, Jr., LB.

Penn State: Brandon Bell, Sr., LB; Brian Gaia, Sr., C; Nyeem Wartman-White, Sr., LB.

Rutgers: Darius Hamilton, Sr., DT ; Andre Patton, Sr., WR ; Julian Pinnix-Odrick, Sr., DL.

WEST DIVISION

Illinois: Wes Lunt, Sr., QB ; Dawuane Smoot, Sr., DE ; Ke'Shawn Vaughn, So., RB.

Iowa: C.J. Beathard, Sr., QB; Josey Jewell, Jr., LB; Desmond King, Sr., DB.

Minnesota: Mitch Leidner, Sr., QB ; Jack Lynn, Sr., LB ; Damarius Travis, Sr., S.

Nebraska: Tommy Armstrong, Sr., QB ; Josh Banderas, Sr., LB; Jordan Westerkamp, Sr., WR.

Northwestern: Matthew Harris, Sr., CB; Justin Jackson, Jr., RB; Anthony Walker Jr., Jr., LB.

Purdue: Ja'Whaun Bentley, Jr., LB; Jake Replogle, Sr., DT; DeAngelo Yancey, Sr., WR.

Wisconsin: Vince Biegel, Sr., LB; Dare Ogunbowale, Sr., RB; Sojourn Shelton, Sr., CB.