Power 4 conference to hold football media days at Mandalay Bay
Las Vegas is set to host another major college football conference media days event.
The Big Ten will hold its 2025 college football media days July 22 to 24 at Mandalay Bay.
The three-day event will feature top players and coaches from one of college football’s powerhouse conferences. Ohio State won the national championship in January and will have several players selected in the NFL draft.
The Big Ten Network will provide coverage of all three days of the event, which will feature six teams per day.
Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis has hosted the event in previous years, but the league said moving it to Las Vegas made sense after the addition of West Coast schools UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington.
“This year, as we were evaluating what our new footprint looks like, obviously we stretch from coast to coast with our 18 institutions,” Big Ten chief operating officer Kerry Kenny said Friday. “With four located in the Pacific Time Zone, it just made a lot of sense to lean into that new footprint and bring one of our high-profile events to a city that we’ve already announced we’re going to do more regular business with.”
Part of that business includes Las Vegas hosting the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament in 2027 and the men’s basketball tournament in 2028 at T-Mobile Arena. And a Big Ten school will play in the 2025 Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.
UNLV has a tie to the conference. Former coach Barry Odom was hired by Purdue in December after guiding the Rebels to a 19-8 record in two seasons at the school. It was the first time in school history that UNLV went to two consecutive bowl games and was ranked nationally.
Also, the Rebels will play UCLA on Sept. 6 at Allegiant Stadium.
The Big Ten plays its conference football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The contract runs through 2028, and Kenny said Allegiant Stadium could be an option for the game after that.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
