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RANTOUL – He won't say it on the air, so we'll fill you in on a little secret: Howard Griffith made his favorite stop Monday on the Big Ten Network's conference tour.

The football studio analyst came to Camp Rantoul with studio host Dave Revsine and fellow analyst Gerry DiNardo. Their ties are to other Big Ten campuses. Revsine is a Northwestern alum. DiNardo coached at Indiana.

Monday brought Griffith near familiar territory, his alma mater Illinois.

"It's different," Griffith said. "Usually, when I'm here I get a chance to see (WDWS') Steve Kelly and Loren Tate. These are people that I've known for a long time. At the end of the day, the object is to report the information that I see and be fair."

Illinois coach Ron Zook understands that Griffith is supposed to be unbiased on the air. But he likes having him in the studio.

"He does have an interest, deep down in his heart," Zook said.

The Big Ten Network travelers have now visited with six programs. The bus has been to Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State.

"You always get people at their best this time of year," Revsine said. "For us, it's incredibly valuable. You get a chance to see every team and really evaluate them. I don't see how you can speak to the teams unless you've seen them in person and that's what our guys get to do."

Ohio State, of course, looked good to Griffith. He also liked what he saw of the Spartans.

"I see them as a team that can win nine or 10 games this year," Griffith said. "They have a returning quarterback with experience."

Revsine said it's an important year for Illinois, which has six new coaches.

"Talent-wise, they've always been really impressive," Revsine said. "We come out of here each year saying, 'There are very few teams that look like Ohio State.' Illinois, year in and year out, would be a team you would group among the better teams just in the way they looked physically. Some years, that has played out, most prominently in 2007 when they made it to the Rose Bowl. In other years, it hasn't played out as much."

A year from now, the bus will be logging more miles when the Big Ten adds a 12th member, Nebraska.

"It's going to be exciting for us, going out to Nebraska, getting an opportunity to see the lay of the land, see their facilities," Griffith said. "We're all really looking forward to it."

Griffith was hoping Lincoln would be one of the stops this year. The network talked about it, but decided to wait until next year when the team becomes an official member.

The Big Ten Network is considered a major positive for the conference when it comes to expansion. Revsine thinks back to when the network first launched and there were questions about its viability.

"It is really gratifying," Revsine said. "As a group, I think it's been a neat experience for us to go from starting this from scratch and a lot of people looking a little askance at it and dubious over whether or not it would be successful."