2016 Big Ten Media Days: Five things to know, from Harbaugh to Iowa

The focus will be on Jim Harbaugh at the Big Ten Media Days, but the conference has plenty of great on-field stories as the 2016 season is set to begin

Please, Big Ten, save us.

As host of the last Power Five media days, you owe us that much. To this point, these preseason get-togethers have pretty much devolved into public shaming (Nick Saban on Paul Finebaum), scandal (Baylor), expansion (Big 12) and -- yippee! -- a new conference network (ACC).

Either these leagues have done a bad job of marketing themselves or maybe this is the way of the college football world these days.

It's up to you, Big Ten. Let's talk some actual football this week. You have Jim Harbaugh in his second season at Michigan, Urban Meyer in his fifth at Ohio State. You have a potential Heisman Trophy winner in J.T. Barrett. You have an NFL coach returning "home" to Illinois.

You have one hell of a conference. Do a good job telling us about it when your media days kick off Monday at Chicago's Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

Here are five things to watch for at the Big Ten Media Days.

1. The circus comes to town: For pure entertainment value, the best idea might be to follow Harbaugh around for a couple of days in Chicago. You know there will be an outlandish act, quote, tweet , statement or two. Bank on it. We've come to expect it in this Summer of the Satellite (Camp).

But for football purposes, sooner or later Harbaugh has to stop being a cartoon of himself. At some point, he will be subject to the same expectations as every Michigan coach ever: winning lots of games. Yes, Coach Khaki pulled 10 wins out of his backside in his first season, but Harbaugh also lost to the two teams that will help define his stay in Ann Arbor -- Michigan State and Ohio State.

Note to those of you who favor the Wolverines to win the Big Ten in Harbaugh's second season: They play the Bucks, Spartans and Hawkeyes on the road. Might as well say it now because the reality of everything Michigan will soon be closing in: The. Pressure. Is. On.

2. Urban Renewal: This might be Urban Meyer's most difficult rebuild yet. One of the most talented Ohio State teams in history lost 16 starters; 12 Buckeyes were drafted -- all of them in the first four rounds.

Naturally, Ohio State was picked as the Big Ten favorite. That's a tribute to Meyer's coaching ability and the latest talent he has assembled to Make Ohio State Great Again.

Only six starters return, but Meyer didn't kill it in recruiting for those kids to stay on the sidelines. Eight of the projected starters are freshmen or sophomores.

Those favoring the Bucks are leaning on a bit of faith. Meyer is 50-4 at Ohio State. He can't slump now.

3. J.T. Barrett: Oh yeah, we forgot to mention Ohio State's biggest advantage in staying near the top of the Big Ten. They say, if you've got a quarterback, you've got a chance. Ohio State might have the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year taking snaps. No more battling with Cardale Jones. As a junior, Barrett has the job all to himself -- again.

It's been a weird career. Barrett is two seasons removed from finishing fifth in Heisman Trophy voting and being named Big Ten's top quarterback. He only had that opportunity because Braxton Miller was injured. Barrett missed out on a national championship that year because of a late-season injury himself. Best guess in 2016: Barrett will be asked to carry a Tim Tebow-like load as Meyer's latest dual-threat great.

4. Lovie meets the media: Illinois has been a hot mess for a while. If it wasn't former coach Tim Beckman allegedly disregarding player safety, it was Beckman sending his entire staff to Penn State to poach players after they were cut loose in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Lovie Smith is not Tim Beckman. In the city where he won 81 games and went to the Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears, Smith will walk triumphantly to the podium on Monday.

Let's hope it isn't the high point of his Illini career. Smith last coached in college with Ohio State in 1995. That team had Eddie George; this Illini team has defensive tackle Chunky Clements.

Ah heck, the Illinois administration has tried everything else: Ron Zook, Ron Turner, Gary Freakin' Moeller. Why not Lovie? The last Illinois coach to depart the program with a winning record was John Mackovic in 1991.

5. Iowa Encore: On Dec. 5, the Hawkeyes were 12-0 and No. 4 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. The winner of the Big Ten title game against Michigan State was going to the CFP. Iowa came within 27 seconds of being that team. In a game that will live in Hawkeyes' infamy forever, Iowa lost to Michigan State 16-13. A magical season ended on a downer when Stanford's Christian McCaffrey shredded Iowa in the Rose Bowl.

So which way will Iowa go in 2016? The Hawkeyes should be favored to return to that Big Ten title game. All-American corner Desmond King is one of eight returners on defense, and senior C.J. Beathard might be the league's second-best quarterback.

Yes, the Hawkeyes did it last year with a combination of deft coaching, a light Big Ten West schedule and survival instinct as Iowa won four games by eight points or less.

The challenge this year is to repeat in the West and make it through that final, emotional 30 seconds of the championship game without heartbreak.