Bret Bielema responds to Diego Pavia shading Big Ten football
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Diego Pavia isn’t one to shy away from trash talk, and his thoughts on the Big Ten did not take long to reach the Midwest.
In a wide-ranging conversation on Bussin’ With the Boys, the Vanderbilt QB revealed that he does not think much of the competition in the B1G.
You want to play with the best, you don’t want to play with the Big Ten,” Pavia said. “You ignore those calls.”
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“The Big Ten, you have like Ohio State, Oregon … Michigan, Penn State. The SEC, you got all dogs. You really only have 4 games a year [in the Big Ten]. The SEC, it’s like week after week after week. Like, you’re going to get beat on. The Big Ten, you’re not getting beat on with Purdue, Nebraska …”
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“You only have to score 7 points to beat Iowa.
Tuesday afternoon, Illinois coach Bret Bielema was asked if he had thoughts on Pavia’s comments. Bielema brushed it off as Pavia “regurgitating” what he hears.
“I understand what he’s saying, right? And he is regurgitating what’s being said to him, I think, probably,” Bielema said. “Listen, the Big Ten, I grew up in this league. Was very successful at Wisconsin – my first bowl game we beat an SEC team I actually ended up working for later. I think of any given Saturday, anybody can get anybody. And that’s what played out in the bowl game, right?
He added, “I think in the last three years, the evolution of college football with the portal, NIL, has created a level playing field that has never been seen before, and I think it’s trending more that way than going back to the way (it was). A lot of people want to live in the past.”
It will be interesting to see if Pavia’s Vanderbilt squad faces a Big Ten team, perhaps Illinois, in the 2025 campaign.
Illinois coach Bret Bielema, speaking before Illini night at Wrigley Field, responding to the comments from Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia about the Big Ten on @BussinWTB. pic.twitter.com/kkCWzFXTAU
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) June 17, 2025
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
