INDIANAPOLIS — The flight was a preview of what’s to come for USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. All four are new members of the Big Ten and their head coaches, along with three players from each team, got their first experience of being the new guys this week in Big Ten country.

They traveled at least 2,000 miles and across several time zones to Indy, home to the Big Ten Football Championship game. Fitting that the start of their college football season begins at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, for Big Ten media day and ends in the same building where the conference title game will be held.

“If you want to play big time ball, you're going to have to travel,” said first-year UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster. “You're going to have to go to new stadiums and hostile environments. So I think we're looking forward to that.”

The Bruins begin Big Ten play at home on Sept. 14 against Indiana in a clash of two head coaches taking over their programs. Then, they head across the country, to Beaver Stadium, on Saturday, Oct. 5.

“I'm looking forward to playing at Penn State for sure,” said UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers. “That's gonna be a great time. I hope the crowd is loud and we have a good time.

“A lot of us have never even been to the states that we're playing at,” added defensive lineman Jay Toia. “And I think for sure for everybody, I think it would be Penn State at the white-out game; that's going to be a crazy atmosphere to play in.”

Scott Agness - The Sporting Tribune

Big Ten media day, which was stretched into three days to accommodate and highlight every team, was the first grand introduction to what one of the great college conferences has become.

No more Legends and Leaders. It’s no longer 10 schools and it’s certainly no longer midwest schools. This conference has range.

The Big Ten is now the Big 18 with UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington becoming the latest four schools to join the mix. The Pac-12 folded and so now the Big Ten stretches from California to New York.

And the University of Oregon made a literal splash this week in Indianapolis but putting a massive blow-up Oregon Duck in the White River, which runs right through downtown Indianapolis and is near the stadium. It was a huge hit.

Over the three-day period, USC head coach Lincoln Riley drew one of the larger crowds. He’s entering his third year at the school, but joining a new conference has added more to the workload.

“We've had a lot of time to familiarize ourself with the league, the teams that are upcoming and starting to project what we're going to see and what we're going to want to be able to do,” he said. “Those projects this year (have) probably been a little bit more extensive in the past just because of all the new, new changes, new opponents.”

These new additions, like USC, understand that the pre-existing Big Ten teams must adapt and familiarize themselves with the newcomers too. It goes both ways. Neither the coaches nor the players were too concerned about the different elements, especially the weather.

Yes, they could go from playing in sunny Los Angeles one week to a cold and snowy Minneapolis the next week. All of these players talk about wanting to play at the next level, in the NFL, so what better way to get them prepared.

“I've never felt like it was that much of a factor,” Riley continued. “We've done the snow games and all the other stuff. … I feel like football players go play. I think that's more of an inconvenience for fans than it is for players.”

Scott Agness - The Sporting Tribune

What these Pac-12 teams will find is a (mostly) welcoming group of teams and fan bases in Big Ten country.

“Lincoln is the most friendly city that I think there could be,” said Nebraska defensive lineman Ty Robinson. “I mean you could probably join anybody's tailgate if you wanted to. Bring a friggin' case of beer or something and have a good time grilling with them.”

Added defensive back Isaac Gifford: “We haven't talked about it a whole lot, but I was just telling Ty, you know, it is different seeing those teams here. Oregon and USC and UCLA, it's cool. It creates more opportunities for us to play great teams at a high level and just prove ourselves to them even more.

“I think they fit the mold of the Big Ten pretty well.”

When you think about Big Ten football, you think physicality. You think hard-nosed, grind-it-out football. Especially last season with the Jim Harbaugh-coached Michigan Wolverines en route to their national championship — over now Big Ten foe Washington.

In that game, J.J. McCarthy fired 18 passes compared to Michael Penix Jr.'s 51 throws. Michigan rushed for 303 yards while Washington was kept to 46.

“Big Ten football is a run-dominant league,” Gifford said. “It's big up front. It's physical. It's gritty. You've got snowy weather. You've got rainy weather. You've got cold weather. You've got hot weather. You've got all these challenges, all these outside ordeals to deal with. But, I think it will be good for the championship.”

Jay Toia is from Inglewood, Calif. and now a defensive lineman in sunny Los Angeles for UCLA. But he doesn’t believe the move will lead to a significant change in what they’re used to seeing.

“I guess the motto of the Big Ten is physicality, but I don't think that's new for us,” Toia said. “We had a powerhouse like Utah, and we played Oregon State, which is a big run team, big physical team, but I don't think that's anything we can't handle.”

The quarterback room at UCLA, meanwhile, went from having four guys in the winter to now eight guys. And there's been a transition period where Garbers said it felt like they put in a lot of hours grinding and understanding what was being asked of them, to now where it's second nature. They expect to have an explosive offense and their defense will be ready for what’s to come.

“Everyone pretty much plays the same game, football,” Garbers said. “I mean, there's different variations of stuff that teams do differently. But at the end of the day, everyone's playing the same thing. And just with coming to the conference, we're just playing new teams and we're playing in new places. “

At this time of the year, right before the start of the season, vibes are good. DeShaun Foster at UCLA takes over after Chip Kelly left to become the offensive coordinator at Ohio State University and get back to focusing solely on football rather than running the program.

“I think especially with Coach Foster and the energy he's brought, I feel like we're a brand-new team,” Toia said. “Just the new energy, the atmosphere feels new. Everybody's bought into what Coach Foster's doing … with the three pillars that he brings, which is discipline, respect, and enthusiasm.”

One thing is for sure: the players look forward to the new experiences and visits to new stadium. Especially the historic ones.

“I think playing in the Rose Bowl will be cool,” said Iowa tight end Luke Lachey. “Historic stadium. My dad (Jim) played in that game a couple times and the Rose Bowl growing up was like the biggest game, like bigger to me than the national championship. Because you know the winner of the Big Ten gets to go there and so I just think that that game is always so cool. So playing there will be awesome.”

Lincoln Riley aspires to get USC to the Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Stadium. He said he’s been to Ohio State, but that’s it. They begin the Big Ten portion of their schedule in Week 3 at Ann Arbor against last year's national champs. As it should be.

“I think just the college football fan in me, like that's pretty damn cool that USC and Michigan are opening up the new Big Ten,” he said. “And to me, no surprise that the Big Ten would pick those two schools and brands to kind of kick this thing off.

“The coach in me is like, yeah, it's going to be great to go compete against a really good football team. And I've always loved coaching on the road. So perfect way to be introduced to the Big Ten.”

Over the last three days to media (and thus to fans), all 18 head coaches made the case for their teams, outlined their goals and priorities, and were all eager to get going.

All with the intention of being right back in this very stadium in 137 days, on December 7th, for the conference championship.