Latest news with #TonyPetitti
USA Today
6 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti responds to letter sent to NCAA advocating for Michigan
It was a bit of a shocker earlier in the week to find out that Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti reportedly sent a letter to the NCAA advocating for Michigan not to face any more penalties for the alleged advanced sign-stealing allegations. You knew that it would be a topic of conversation with that news dropping right before Big Ten football media days, and sure enough, it didn't take long for the media to ask Petitti about it when he stepped to the podium to deliver his press conference on Tuesday. Being the politician and even-keeled spokesman for one of the biggest brands in sports, Petitti was not about to take the bate, but did confirm that he sent a letter. "We did submit a letter," Petitti said. "It's not uncommon in proceedings for a conference office to weigh in. I'm not gonna address what the contents of the letter we sent are, and because it's an ongoing process, I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment whether (the punishment) is enough or not while there are individuals deliberating. I don't think that's the right thing to do in the process." Petitti refusing to discuss the contents of the letter is not surprising, and neither is the reported contents of the letter coming from ESPN's Dan Wetzel. It's still an ongoing investigation, and Petitti isn't going to throw gasoline on the fire of a very controversial topic. Also, his advocating for one of the best and biggest brands in the Big Ten isn't surprising at all. He acted swiftly and appropriately early on, and now it's time to get in the bunker and try to keep the interests of the Big Ten above everything else. Keeping Michigan in the picture of the College Football Playoff is exactly what he is expected to do. Ohio State fans may not like his position -- in fact most in the college football world won't -- but it's better for the Big Ten to have Michigan being Michigan. The good news is that this whole thing is going to be over soon, probably right before or after the 2025 college footall season begins. Then, maybe we can all get on with our lives and just focus on football on the field. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti discusses future of College Football Playoff format
Believe it or not, the start of the 2025 college football season is just around the corner. Tuesday marked the start of Big Ten football media days in Las Vegas, kicking off the year for the sport's biggest conference. Starting the event was Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti. In his press conference, Petitti discussed the potential future College Football Playoff format amid talks of expansion. 'The Big Ten has been consistent in its strong preference for a Playoff system that allocates spots based on conference standings and the results of playing games,' Petitti said, via The Athletic. 'We want to better connect the regular season and the postseason. "We are open to considering any format ideas that come from our (conference) colleagues or the CFP staff. But to be clear, formats that increase the discretion and role of the CFP selection committee will have a difficult time getting support from the Big Ten." Petitti's argument seems to be for a system in which each conference is guaranteed a certain number of playoff bids regardless of regular season results. For USC and other Big Ten teams, that would likely be beneficial. It would give them more room for mulligans during the season, especially in nonconference games. For schools from smaller conferences, however, it would seemingly give them even less margin, since there would likely only be a few bids left for schools outside of the Big Ten and SEC. Those changes will not go into effect until 2026 at the earliest. For this upcoming season, the CFP will utilize the same format as last season, with the exception that first-round byes will simply go to the four highest-ranked teams, rather than the four highest-ranked conference champions.
USA Today
12 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
The absurdity of absolute power. Big Ten, SEC fight to shape College Football Playoff
LAS VEGAS — The Big Ten and SEC control the future of the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten and the SEC can't agree on anything. Which tracks about just how you think it would in Sin City, driving directly into the theater of the absurd. 'I'm not going to put any deadline on it,' Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said Tuesday of negotiations for the new CFP format, while opening Big Ten Media Days at Mandalay Bay Resort. I know this is going to shock you, but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey made it clear last week during SEC Media Days that, 'We have a deadline of Dec. 1.' Just when you thought the great College Football Playoff format debate couldn't devolve to more ridiculous levels, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti entered the chat and changed everything. Forget about the Big Ten and its desired 16-team format that focuses on automatic qualifiers (four each for the Big Ten and SEC) and the need for CFP play-in games during championship week. Forget about the SEC and its desire for 11 at-large selections of the 16, based heavily on strength of schedule. Cignetti wants everyone to know that the CFP selection committee has too much power in the process. The very committee that last year selected his 11-win team – with one win against a team with a winning record – to the exclusive party. The same guy who, when asked Tuesday about Indiana dropping a non-conference game against big, bad Virginia for a Championship Subdivision directional school, responded with, 'We figured we'd just adopt the SEC scheduling philosophy.' I swear I'm not making this up. SCHEDULE DEBATE: Indiana coach fires hot at SEC after dropping Virginia POWER RANKINGS: Where the Big Ten teams stack from first to worst But at this point, nothing should be surprising in this ever-more-absurd cock walk. Each ego-driven, billion dollar conference trying to exert power over the other, in a blatantly awkward swinging dictator contest. The Big Ten doesn't want to be seen as the SEC's little brother. The SEC doesn't want to be pushed into a corner, and bend the knee to the conference it has dominated on the field for decades. Sankey touted the SEC's historical strength of schedule in defense of 11 at-large selections. Winning 14 national titles since 2000 doesn't hurt, either. Petitti responded by declaring the Big Ten played in eight of the 11 CFP games in 2024, had the four most viewed television games on the season and seven of the top 10. Then he dropped the ultimate "scoreboard" hammer: 'We just stand by what we do in the Big Ten. I think the national results have shown the last couple of seasons.' Translation: the Big Ten has won the last two national titles. The SEC has done … what exactly? There's nothing logical about this public spat, nothing tangible that can be easily negotiated with clear minds or paid off with more money — which a 16-team CFP most certainly brings. This is about superiority and inferiority, and where the SEC and Big Ten fit. No matter the collateral damage. Imagine you're Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. A distinguished 38-year career in the Air Force, retired as a Lieutenant General — the second-highest general officer rank. You're minding your own business at Big Ten media days, sitting quietly in the back of the large ballroom when some schlub who just picked up his first power conference coaching job starts throwing darts at your committee. A committee the SEC and Big Ten played a critical role in creating and developing, and growing into the singular, insular monster it has become. So I asked this titan of service to his country, and frankly, to the Big Ten and SEC and every other college football conference, what it was like to watch Cignetti kneecap his committee. Was it difficult to watch? 'Yeah,' Clark said, smiling wide — and then he stopped himself. Because like all military personnel, he knows there's oder and there's consequences for going outside it. 'The committee selected Indiana,' Clark continued, 'And I think it was the right decision, too.' Would you look at that, a lesson in swallowing ego and pride for the greater good. No swinging dictators necessary. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Big Ten Media Days: Tony Petitti pushing for four automatic bids
July 23 - LAS VEGAS -- At the Big Ten's first-ever media day in Nevada on Tuesday, a portion of commissioner Tony Petitti's opening address suggested College Football Playoff odds are stacked against his conference. "It's really simple math," Petitti said at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the first day of the Big Ten Media Days gathering. "With 18 schools (in the Big Ten) and nine conferences (eligible for FBS playoffs), we're losing nine more games to start." Nine- vs. eight-game conference scheduling is a debate predating any iteration of the playoff, beginning in 2006 when the FBS season expanded to 12 regular-season dates. Petitti's position that playing more conference games than the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference puts Big Ten teams at greater risk of stumbling has merit when referring to the Bowl Championship Series and four-team playoff for reference. Most notably, teams from the old Pac-12 -- one-third of which the Big Ten absorbed -- routinely missed out on national-title opportunities because of conference losses. Ironically, though, the 2024 season played out much differently: It was the SEC's eight-game schedule and playoff hopefuls Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina being tripped up that impacted the bracket. Meanwhile, the Big Ten's Indiana Hoosiers reached the playoff despite finishing the regular season with no Top 25 wins and two defeats total of conference opponents that produced winning records. The commissioner defended Indiana's playoff inclusion, noting that, "when Indiana's schedule was made ... (there) were the two teams that played in the (national) championship game the season before, Michigan and Washington." Be that as it may, the Hoosiers finished with a Sagarin strength of schedule ranking of No. 66, easily the worst of the power-conference playoff teams. The nine-game slate did not hurt the Big Ten in 2024, but Petitti inferred the Big Ten beat the odds. To adjust the odds going forward, Petitti's math factors into a postseason equation the commissioner has touted throughout the 2025 offseason: 16 equals four times two. With talk of expanding the College Football Playoff to 16 entrants after just one year of the 12-team format, Petitti is pushing for a format that grants both the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference four automatic bids. That ensures the two most prominent leagues in the sport comprise half of the field every year. The Petitti plan also includes the concept of a play-in round where conference championship games currently reside on the football calendar, the weekend after the Thanksgiving holiday. He presented the idea as something "fans will really gravitate to ... providing games that are do-or-die on the field." Petitti's suggestion faces resistance, including from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. At his conference's media days last week, Sankey pushed for a playoff format with automatic qualifiers for five conference champions -- as exists now in the 12-team Playoff -- and 11 at-large berths. As for Petitti's position on when to reformat the postseason, the commissioner sounds content on slow-rolling it. "I'm not going to put any deadline on it," he said. --National champs tabbed as unlikely underdogs Before a rematch on Aug. 30 in Columbus, plenty will be made of Ohio State's 28-14 win over Texas in January's Cotton Bowl, which propelled the Buckeyes to the national championship game against Notre Dame. At Big Ten media days, however, Ohio State coach Ryan Day made clear the marquee matchup on Week 1 is a new chapter. "The team we have currently wants to leave their own legacy behind, and they made that clear a week after the national championship game," Day said. "We've said it before, we're not defending national champions, because we're not defending anything ... We're looking to attack." It's not uncommon for spokespersons of highly regarded and championship-winning teams to claim to be an underdog, even if the role does not fit. But despite rolling through the inaugural 12-team playoff with four double-digit-point wins, Ohio State was unveiled at Big Ten media days as an underdog in its own conference. The Buckeyes garnered 431 total points and 10 first-place votes in the league's preseason media poll, sitting in second behind Penn State with its 435 points and 11 first-place votes. Reigning Big Ten champion Oregon is third at 405 and two. Ohio State returns the Preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, but the quarterback targeting Smith remains undecided. Day said at his session on Tuesday candidates Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz head into August in a dead heat. The two are vying to replace Will Howard, who passed for 289 yards and a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl win over Texas. The new QB1 will share a backfield with new primary running backs, too, as Quinshon Judkins -- who scored two Cotton Bowl touchdowns -- and TreVeyon Henderson, who went 75 yards on Howard's touchdown pass vs. the Longhorns, are gone. The roster turnover at skill positions explains Ohio State's polling at No. 2, but hasn't entirely relegated the Buckeyes to the role of underdogs. As of Tuesday, they are consensus three-point favorites vs. Texas. --'Stand up' for the Big Ten Ahead of December's Citrus Bowl, a lion's share of attention focused on whether participating South Carolina should instead have been preparing for a playoff game. Overshadowed was an Illinois team that had its best regular season since 2007. The Illini proceeded to beat the Gamecocks, 21-17, for the program's first 10-win finish since 2001. With the win, Bret Bielema's squad contributed its own measure of bragging rights for the Big Ten in its ongoing war of perception with the SEC. "I learned early in life, right, if you don't stand up for yourself, no one else will," Bielema said on Tuesday. His stance is that the Big Ten is in a position to tout its quality off the field, but that starts by backing it up on the field. Big Ten teams have some high-profile opportunities to do just that opposite the SEC early in the 2025 campaign, starting immediately with a playoff rematch between Ohio State and Texas. The showdown between the reigning national champion Buckeyes and preseason SEC favorite Longhorns sets the stage for three straight weeks of noteworthy Big Ten vs. SEC matchups. In Week 2, Michigan travels to Oklahoma. Week 3 features Wisconsin visiting Alabama. --Field Level Media
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
What's the answer to college football's playoff problem? Big Ten commish still pointing at 'play-in games' for his rationale
LAS VEGAS — A month ago, as he tuned into a College Football Playoff meeting through Zoom, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti felt a wave of sudden enlightenment wash over him. As he watched CFP staff members share potential changes to the criteria and data used by the selection committee, as he witnessed mathematicians deliver ideas on adjustments, Petitti pulled away from the Zoom and had a thought. What the heck are we doing? 'I found myself sitting there thinking that play-in games seem so rational as we look at folks talk about points and subtracting numbers and adding numbers. I'm thinking, 'This is the rational system and the one where we play games is radical?' 'I admire the work they're putting into it and all the stuff they're talking about and adding and subtracting and listening to mathematicians and scheduling experts. But all of that is more valuable than two teams playing on the field? OK.' In an interview on Monday with Yahoo Sports from the site of this week's Big Ten football media days, Petitti emphasized that his league's position on a future playoff format remains unchanged — a position, he says, that is unlikely to change until the power conferences agree to play the same amount of conference games (nine) and until the selection process is rectified. The conference continues to support a playoff structure with more automatic access spots as opposed to the so-called '5+11' format that features more at-large selections. The Big Ten's long-discussed playoff format — a '4-4-2-2-1' model — would grant four automatic qualifiers to the SEC and Big Ten, two each to the ACC and Big 12, one to the highest-ranked Group of Six champion and three at-large selections. The model, vehemently opposed by the ACC and Big 12, would reduce the subjectivity of the selection committee, incentivize more perennial non-conference matchups and, Petitti says, provide an avenue for inner-conference play-in style games pitting, for instance, the third-place Big Ten team against the sixth-place finisher for a spot in the playoff. Any format with a bigger at-large pool such as the 5+11 — it grants qualifiers to the top five conference champions and 11 at-large spots — relies too heavily on a subjective selection committee, he says. Petitti believes proposed alterations to the data used by selection committee members to seed teams and determine at-large selections remains 'incredibly incomplete' and, he suggested, may never reach the point of satisfying his membership. 'I've heard my colleagues around other leagues say that a lot of work has to be done to the selection committee and that's where I have a hard time on what that actually means,' Petitti said. 'In talking to some of the folks in our room, our ADs that have been on that (selection) committee, I've yet to hear someone say they need more data or stuff to look at. You can come up and make metrics, but ultimately it's just people evaluating what's put in front of them.' While acknowledging that his league must agree with the SEC on a playoff format in order for it to advance forward — the two conferences control the matter — Petitti says he's OK with the playoff remaining at 12 teams next season instead of the proposed 16-team expanded model. 'Earlier on, we felt expansion would be a good thing, but we're not going to expand unless we really feel like the format and access makes sense,' Petitti said. 'It has to make the regular season better. If it doesn't do that, why are we doing it?' Such a possibility — remaining as a 12-team playoff in 2026 — is growing more likely by the day as the two conferences remain at an impasse, both with one another over the number of conference games they play (SEC eight and the Big Ten nine) and with the CFP's selection process. The SEC is yet to decide on whether it is moving from eight conference games to nine in 2026, though signs point to the conference remaining at eight games at least for next year, especially if the selection committee process is unsatisfactory. Even SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said last week during his media days there's 'not a lot of warmth' from the football coaches in adding an extra conference game. The SEC's head coaches hold sway in the conference. In fact, their pushback to the Big Ten's 4-4-2-2-1 model in May shifted the league's consideration of that format. Meanwhile, neither league seems necessarily agreeable to proposed alterations to data in the selection process. The CFP staff proposed to commissioners an adjustment to the committee's strength-of-schedule ranking that gives more weight to games played, for instance, against the top 30-40 programs in the country. Secondly, a new data point, 'strength of record,' has been created that grants more weight to good wins and doesn't penalize as much a program for losses against ranked or top teams. Petitti is unmoved. He is against widening the at-large pool from seven to 11 teams as it gives the 12-member selection committee — a rotation of mostly athletic directors and former coaches — more authority. 'It's not that we think the selection committee does a poor job. I'm just not sure how you make it better. The more teams you add, the more tough decisions you create,' he said. 'We're going to give the committee more to do? What's the reason to do that? Giving them more work to do and more discretion?' Despite the disagreement with the SEC, both commissioners say that they continue to speak regularly and the two leagues remain close. Petitti hopes the conferences can hold a third joint athletic director meeting soon. 'Anybody who is writing that the fact we might not be on the same page today on format changes means we don't have a great working relationship is in the wrong place,' Petitti said Monday. Said Sankey last week: 'There is no rift between the SEC and Big Ten commissioners. We have different views. That's OK.' They disagree on something else too: the timing of the transfer portal. A committee of power conference football administrators and athletic directors is expected to make a formal recommendation on the portal soon. The expectation is for a single portal in January. The Big Ten remains the only FBS conference that is against such a move. Big Ten coaches and administrators are pushing for an April portal. 'That's not where the other three (power) leagues are,' Petitti said. 'At the end of the day, when you govern with others, there are going to be issues where you know you're going to have to agree that your position wasn't the one adopted. But having player movement occur during the postseason seems something that is not ideal. It puts players in tough spots. It's not good for the game.' In an interview with Yahoo Sports last week, Sankey said he was seeking a portal date that is 'the right thing for the educational enterprise,' and both leaders believe there should be a single portal as opposed to the two currently existing. 'We have to get back as a collegiate enterprise to say we have a responsibility and expectation that you pursue your education in a consistent way,' Sankey said. 'Transferring every semester or five schools in five years is not consistent with those objectives.'
