Ben Hartsock, Big Ten Radio host on SiriusXM & national champ at Ohio State, tells McElroy & Cubelic why he foresees 4 playoff teams for the Big Ten and what the actual expectations are for the Buckeyes
14:48 Share

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.

My friend's still laughing at me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com slash results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. At your job, do you ever have to deal with a nose roller? How about a snub pulley?

Well, if you're installing a new conveyor belt system, dealing with the different components can sound like you're speaking a foreign language. Luckily, you've got a team ready to help. Grainger's technical product specialists are fluent in maintenance, repair, and operations. So whenever you want to talk shop, just reach out. Call, click Grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

This jocks 94 by podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and video log on to MSB now.com TV excellence everywhere. That's millennium McElroy and Kubelik in the morning starts now. All right, welcome back in McElroy and Kubelik in the morning 731 a.m. Right here on jocks 94 5 gonna get to Ben Hartsock here talk big 10 media days in just a moment and

But it's going to be hot again today. One reason, GMAC, you want to have Polar Bear Services on speed dial. Yeah, Polar Bear Services is the one-stop shop that can do a lot of different things for you. Polar Bear Services has been coming to my house for so many different things, whether it's the plumbing, the electrical, but they specialize in the HVAC systems. And we know it's been really hot the last few weeks, cooling off a bit of late, but

We'll be right back.

phone and call the bear. It's two Oh five, four, nine, seven bear. It's four, nine, seven bear. All right. Ben Hartsock, former Ohio state tight end joins us now on the buyer's right hotline to preview big 10 media days. Ben, we were kind of talking the depth of some of these leagues and talking sort of playoff, uh,

not contenders, teams that maybe could, but teams that you kind of view them right now and say they should be in the college football playoff this year. Going to 12 teams, they have the bodies, they have the players. When I see that team, that's a playoff team. How many of those do you see in the Big Ten right now?

Yeah, I think four. I think four. It's going to be Ohio State. It's going to be Oregon. It's going to be Penn State. And then after that, it's a wild card. You don't have to squint too hard. Michigan, if they can figure out replacing all their losses a year ago, they could be in. Maybe Wisconsin figures things out. Maybe Iowa with their new offensive coordinator figures things out. But I think that it's going to be four spots for the Big Ten this year.

You look at the top, it feels pretty chalky. The middle is where I think things become a little bit more challenging as you assess the middle of the league. Who do you think has an advantage? It comes down to quarterback play. It comes down to continuity. That's a good question, Greg. After the chalk, it's kind of been my conclusion about this new iteration of the Big 12 is that

I just did a segment over with Dusty and Danny and they were asking about Wisconsin and I said, you know what, I think about Wisconsin who was kind of one of those solid good programs but never a great program. For two reasons, they're now pushed down a little bit further into working class status.

they're pushed down for two reasons. One, they used to own the West when Big Ten had divisions, which the divisions are going away. So now instead of going to be one or two in the West, now you're fourth or third in the best. You're after Ohio State. You're after Penn State. You're after Michigan. And then on top of that, Oregon comes in, and they're probably the second-best contender in the entire conference. So teams like Iowa, teams like Wisconsin, Massachusetts,

Maybe Nebraska tries to push itself up into that discussion if it gets hot this year. To me, the middle ground is more purgatory than it's ever been.

It's kind of a funny – one of the biggest things of the 12-team playoffs is what is success. We have to recalibrate what is success. Iowa didn't get itself worked too much into college football playoffs when it was four teams. Wisconsin didn't either. Ole Miss didn't at times as well. Like, it was just, hey, let's go do well –

Let's get a New Year's Six bowl game and let's get 10 wins, hopefully, and maybe we'll get a shot to be in the Big Ten championship game. Well, now all you are is you're the same team pushed a little further down, and you're going to be more off than not on the outside looking in in a college football playoff that you didn't used to be.

that focused on, now it's just right there and you can taste it, but you still can't find a way to punch through it. Ben Hartsock, former Ohio State tight end, does Big Ten Radio on Sirius XM, joining us now on the Buyer's Right Hotline. When you think this Ohio State football team, there are a lot of strengths. There are a lot of portions of it that you look at and say they're going to be dominant, they're going to be elite. Where are your concerns with this Ohio State team before we enter fall practice?

Yeah, they graduated some linebackers, so you've got to wonder what's going on there. But the defense, honestly, guys, as I've gotten ready for media days, I've gotten more bullish on Ohio State. We've kind of settled in to say that it's Georgia's championship to lose this year. And when you look out...

position by position, really, Georgia's got the quarterback advantage. You know, everybody recognizes that. But outside of that, you know, maybe Georgia's offensive line I would take. Outside of that, I don't know that there's a position group that I would take from Georgia over Ohio State. So that then it comes down to quarterback play. I just feel bullish about Ohio State because –

they've done the thing that no blue blood has done. They, they have all the culture. They've got all the success. They've got all the infrastructure and they pushed in this year and they went and got Caleb down. You know, they built the super team. They, they went and got Caleb down from, from Alabama guys going to be a top 10, top five pick and two, two drafts. They went and got the all sec running back and quid shot Judkins and you paid to

to keep the NFL-caliber defense. He kept every one of those guys back. I mean, that D-line guy, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tulliamolo, Altyleek Williams, those guys are all Sunday dudes. Denzel Burke is a late first-round kind of guy. Igben Usum is a first, second-round guy. Caleb Downs is a top-ten guy. Everywhere you look, and this is what Urban Meyer –

and Jim Trestle, two Ohio State coaches, have said they've never seen the concentration of talent that is currently residing in the Woody Hayes locker room. What do you make of the quarterback situation? I mean, everyone just assumes that Will Howard's going to step right in. I think he's a good player. Some people aren't as sold as I am. But I'm curious, I mean, how will he compare to some of the quarterbacks that they've had in the past? Yeah, it's...

It's been perplexing to me since the very beginning because hearing Chris Kleiman at Big 12 Media Days, he said it out loud. Chris Kleiman said, Will Howard came and had a conversation with me after the season, and they both had the understanding, Will, you're not going to be the starter at Kansas State next year. And so he puts his name in the portal. And I just can't wrap my head around how the guy that can't be the starter at Kansas State is the right guy for Ohio State.

that's just a riddle to me. Especially with what Kyle McCord did last year, who's now at Syracuse. It doesn't make sense other than there's two things. One, Will Howard's got a tremendous amount of experience, and two, Will Howard brings a mobility aspect that Kyle McCord didn't, and that's that I think Ryan Day and Chip Kelly, who's going to be calling the plays now, really wants that last

piece of it. You're not Kyler Murray, but we need a viable run threat from the quarterback position, and that's what Will Howard brings. And so I expect Will Howard to improve because I don't want to disrespect Kansas State, but the level of players around Will Howard, Ohio State, will be significantly higher, and so you expect an improvement from that. But I don't

I don't know how much of a leash Will Howard has. There's not much of a test in the non-conference. So, I mean, we're talking about Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall in your non-conference for Iowa State, and then Michigan State, it's new coach, they're pushed way down. Your first real challenge is October 5th when you host Iowa.

So I don't expect Will Howard to have a lot of struggles early in the season, and hopefully he'll come up to speed. But if for whatever reason there are struggles or he doesn't look like he's the guy, if he doesn't look like the guy, then you've got tons of talent behind him. Devin Brown has been the backup, but he's dealt with injuries. And then after that, you've got Julian Sand, who was the guy that got out of the letter of intent from Alabama.

Alabama. And then Aaron Olin is another talented guy, young guy coming out of high school from the state of Georgia. So there's a huge amount of talent waiting in that room, but it certainly feels like Will Howard is the guy. It just, it comes down to how much leash does he have?

All right, Ben, you talked about the playoff contenders, teams that you view from the Big Ten that you feel like should be in the playoff. Michigan, one of those teams. I love the D-line. I don't think the offensive line is going away. Tight end group, fantastic. Solid at running back. I just have so many questions about finding some real balance inside that offense. And then obviously the turnover, just from not only players, but the coaching staff. I'm just interested why you're not as concerned as I am about the potential of Michigan making this year's college football playoff.

Yeah, I mean, and to add on top of that, Cole, is, I mean, they've got Texas week two. They just have Texas week two. But outside of that, they've got Oregon, they've got Ohio State, and so they've got real challenges there. My thought on four teams from the Big Ten is it just comes down to

the playoff committee this year has some big precedents that they're going to set in year one. Remember how comfortable we got over the 10 years of the 14 playoff of what's

We didn't know with certainty, but we had precedents that had been set. Now, those precedents all got blown out of the water with what happened to Florida State last year being undefeated and still being kicked out. I just think that the precedent and the caliber, the national perception of –

of the Big Ten is going to be such that there will be four teams that get in there. Getting Michigan in there as one of the four is a challenge because losses to Texas is not outside. You don't have to squint for that to be a reality. Oregon is one that, I mean, Michigan might be an underdog in that game and then obviously the game against Ohio State at the end of the season. If you don't win

If you lose all three of those games, yeah, you're not going to the playoff. I don't care whether you're the maize and blue or not. When we fast forward to the end of the year, and let's just assume, it's definitely a possibility, let's just assume that Ohio State doesn't win the national championship, what will be the reaction, not just amongst the Buckeye fans, but all the fans at the Big Ten?

Losing the national championship but beating Michigan at the end of the season is a significantly different outcome. If you lose to Michigan and also don't go to the national championship, that's worst case scenario. There's three potential outcomes. There's the rivalry game at the end of the season, there's the Big Ten championship, and then there's the playoff, which includes the national championship. You've got to kind of

Obviously, worst case scenario, you lose to Michigan, you don't even make it to the Big Ten championship and then either flame out early in the playoff or don't even make it at all. That's worst case scenario. That's where people will say, is Ryan Day the right guy or not? I don't expect that to be.

Your scenario is probably most likely. It's really hard to win a national championship. I don't care who you are. Even with those expectations, it's challenging. If they lose the national championship but beat Michigan at the end of the season, and then whoever shakes out in maybe a rubber match in the –

you know, a repeat in the Big Ten Championship against Michigan. It'll be interesting to see how that's perceived. But I will say this. Lose the national championship but have a win against Michigan softens everything for Ryan Day. Ben, great stuff, man. Thanks for joining us. You expect any fireworks, any drama from Big Ten media days? No, I really don't. I'll be interested to see

how Tony Petitti, the commissioner, presents the West Coast teams. Like, you've got to remember, the Big Ten media days, one of my yearly things I enjoy checking in on before media days is which Iowa offensive lineman won the hay bale tossing contest at the beef days in Solon.

Now we're rolling in West Coast teams. How is the new marketing of the conference with, hey, we're the most lucrative in college football. Hey, we're the West Coast to East Coast. We're the nationwide conference. I expect that kind of stuff.

But this has been historically a Midwestern feel. And here we sit right in the heartland in Indianapolis. It'll be interesting to see how Tony Petitti kind of massages that perception. But I don't expect big fireworks. It's more marketing is what I'm interested to see. There you go. Ben, great stuff. Thanks for hopping on, man. Really appreciate the time.

Yeah. Enjoy it, guys. See you. All right. Ben Hartsock, former Ohio State tight end, joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline there for all your insurance needs. Look to Buyer's Right Insurance, a member of the WRM group where relationships matter.

Talking a little Big Ten, doesn't sound like he expects a ton of noise to be made around what's going to happen at Big Ten media days. So we'll discuss the Big Ten just a little bit further. Maybe some teams that we feel like will or will not be in the college football playoff next right here on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubelik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than...

A player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Cup or wherever you get your podcasts.

We're all juggling life, a career, and trying to build a little bit of wealth. The Brown Ambition podcast with host Mandy and Tiffany, the budget nista can help. Let's talk about the financials behind locks. It can be quite pricey, but as your hair locks, it needs way less product. When I had my fro, it was way more costly as it relates to products because my fro was thirsty. I know it's very expensive. Yeah. Yes. I need the whole bottle. A dime sized portion of what? Girl, the laughter. Brown Ambition. Wherever you listen.