Eleven things you'll almost definitely hear at Big Ten media days

1)"It is what it is:" Ahh yes, the most common cliché in the book these days. Back in 2003, when I was covering Virginia and its Bill Belichick/Bill Parcells disciple of a coach, Al Groh, he’d whip this out at least three-to-five times a press conference. Now, it’s caught fire to the point where you might hear five or six coaches use it Monday. If you’re really bored at work, keep a tally going.

2)Something about Twitter or tweeting: At the SEC media days, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen actually tweeted he was on stage from onstage. Now, that’s meta. But in all seriousness, whenever someone is tweeting - be it Charlie Weis or Stewart Cink or Rich Rodriguez - questions from media members surely follow. That and this shameless plug: Follow @davebirkett and @mikerothstein throughout the next two days as we write and tweet from the Hyatt in Chicago.

3)The off-season conditioning/team chemistry was the best we’ve had: Every year, it’s the same thing. Players are convinced that this previous off-season was the best one they’ve ever had. Without fail. Every year. A coach once explained to me that it often happens that way when talking to seniors because they have more urgency and accountability than in years past. Plus, they are the leaders now, so they automatically think it is better. Now, whether that’s true or not…

4) Our players have really bought in: The ultimate in coach-speak. Not everyone can be brutally honest like former Michigan State coach John L. Smith. Every coach, at this time of year, believes his players have total faith and belief in the system the coaches have put in place - often even more so from newer coaches. So expect to hear something like this from new Purdue coach Danny Hope.

5) This is Joe Paterno’s final season: Whether it is true or not - the octogenarian has gone through this will he/won’t he dance for the past five years or so and given no indication this is his last year - it is bound to be brought up. Of course, Paterno returns a team that could easily be the Big Ten’s best this season, so he’ll want to discuss that. But it’ll come up and someone will surely say they know. Trust me. They don’t.

6) How the spread has changed the college game: The spread has infiltrated the Big Ten the past few years from Michigan to Penn State. Inevitably, a coach or two will be asked about it or volunteer that it is still, indeed, tough to stop. In reality, though, it is quickly becoming the preferred offense in college football.

7) We’ve instilled more discipline in our program: Football teams in the Big Ten have been going through a rash of player dismissals and arrests - from the group at Iowa to Penn State’s James McDonald receiving a DUI to Michigan cornerback Boubacar Cissoko being arrested last month. Coaches will inevitably address it.

8) Differing opinions on adding a ninth game: There’s been discussions about adding a ninth game to the Big Ten conference schedule, meaning Big Ten teams would miss just one team a year than another than the current system of two. Of course, there will also mention of this other potential solution to the Big Ten’s scheduling conundrum…

9) Talk of adding a 12th team: This seems to be a yearly discussion during media days and sometimes throughout the season. Those conversations really intensified this off-season when Joe Paterno said he didn’t want Notre Dame as the 12th team in the league (the Irish, unless something radical changes, would be silly to be interested) and then potential discussion about Syracuse or Rutgers as potential additions. Twelve teams means a conference championship game and a more even schedule.

10) That Joe Tiller is missed: This will most likely come from the media more than any coach or player, as Tiller was usually one of the more enjoyable coaches in the Big Ten to talk with, always had a quip or some sort of fly-fishing reference and always spoke his mind.

11) The continued emergence of dual-threat quarterbacks in the Big Ten: This is going to be a big year for those players who can run and pass with good enough efficiency to be starters. There’s Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State); Daryll Clark (Penn State); Juice Williams (Illinois) and whomever ends up starting at Michigan. The first three, along with Ricky Stanzi of Iowa, make up the best four quarterbacks in the conference.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for annarbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558 or at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com.