Big Ten media days: Penn State AD frustrated over abundance of Big Ten road openers
In a little more than a month, Penn State will begin a new season on the road with a Big Ten contest at Purdue. The Nittany Lions are opening a third consecutive season with a Big Ten conference matchup, and for the third consecutive season, that game will be played on the road. Penn State athletics director Pat Kraft is not exactly thrilled about this trend for Penn State.
“It stinks, it stinks,” Kraft said at Big Ten media day in Indianapolis on Wednesday, according to Lions247. “[James Franklin] called me the other day. I said, ‘What?’ I called the conference office and said this is unacceptable. So we’re addressing that right away.”
Penn State opened the adjusted 2020 season with a road game at Indiana. Last season, Penn State opened the season with a Week 1 contest at Wisconsin. And this season will begin with a road trip to Purdue for a nationally televised Thursday night showdown.
While opening so many seasons of conference play on the road does feel a bit odd, the question should probably be whether or not it really matters. Big Ten schedules fluctuate between four and five home games each season with the current scheduling format, so Big Ten teams will be at a disadvantage with conference travel every other year. That’s to be expected. But does it negatively impact if the first conference game is at home or away?
Regardless, Kraft is taking measures to ensure Penn State isn’t opening Big Ten play on the road more than others around the conference moving forward.
“That shouldn’t happen at Penn State,” he said. “We should be at home for our opener. I think it’s nine or seven years (now). That’s crazy. That stinks. I did deal with that. I called our friends in the conference, who I love dearly. But that’s not right.”
The importance of opening conference play at home or away is fair to debate, but Penn State should probably be more upset it has to open a third straight season on the road in conference play. It’s one thing to open conference play later in September on the road, but to open three consecutive seasons away from home because the television schedule and conference schedule want it is another issue worth barking about.
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