Tony Petitti says Big Ten ‘focusing on 18 now’ as league introduces West Coast members

INDIANAPOLIS — During a wide-ranging 30-minute press conference that covered topics ranging from the House v. NCAA settlement to expansion, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti touted his league’s strength and position in an ever-changing college sports landscape.

These are some of the key conclusions:

Expansion

USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington will officially join the Big Ten on August 2, bringing the league’s membership to 18. With Florida State and Clemson’s ongoing lawsuits with the ACC creating instability in another conference, expansion and reclassification remain at the forefront of national discussion.

But for the Big Ten, expansion appears to be a side issue for now.

“We’re focused on the 18 right now,” Petitti said. “There’s been a lot of work done to integrate USC and UCLA. We started that work right back up when we added Oregon and Washington. I think we’re really comfortable where we are right now.

“We have to get this conference right, and that is our focus.”

The Big Ten dates back to 1896, and academics remains a crucial factor its members consider in any expansion effort. All four newcomers are members of the Association of American Universities, a prestigious research consortium that includes 17 Big Ten members (Nebraska was a former member). AAU membership, while not a direct requirement, is an important factor in evaluating potential new members, Petitti said.

“It’s a holistic approach that starts with the academics and the fit,” he said. “That’s a huge part of the legacy and the history of the Big Ten. That’s important to our leadership. Obviously, these four schools check those boxes very well.

“I think the next factor is that it’s important to be strong in multiple sports. Obviously, the test of being truly additive in football is critical. Are you bringing additional value to the conference in football? It’s no secret that football is a big, big part of the revenue that’s generated to support the entire ecosystem. We understand that. So when we’re evaluating potential members, football kind of comes to the front of the line in terms of the athletic aspect.”

Washington reached the national title game last season, but lost to fellow Big Ten member Michigan. Oregon (12-2), USC (8-5) and UCLA (8-5) all qualified for bowl games and have rich football traditions.

College American Football Playoffs

After 10 seasons as a four-team tournament, the CFP expands to 12 teams this fall. The five highest-ranked conference champions earn automatic berths, while the top four champs receive a first-round bye. The remaining seven spots go to at-large teams, and a goal for Petitti and the Big Ten is to grab as many spots as possible.

“We want as many teams as possible to compete late in the season to earn a spot in the Playoff, and I think that’s the goal,” Petitti said. “What I’m excited about is that the fact that we’ve expanded the Playoff gives more teams in the Big Ten a chance to compete later in the season. That’s better in terms of location, in terms of campus, in terms of excitement. It puts more programs in the race, and that’s what fans want. Fans want their teams to be alive as late as possible. That’s all you can hope for.

“I think this format will allow us to do it. We’ll see how it works this year. We’re — I’ve been pretty vocal about the fact that we really want the regular season to work and to tie into our postseason. It’s not easy to get through a Big Ten regular season. Being able to earn that based on your conference play and your record, I think, is a really important part of what the playoffs should look like.”

Six current Big Ten teams won at least 10 games last year, and their regular-season resumes would make them all eligible for an at-large playoff spot.

NIL/House regulation

The NCAA, its member institutions, conferences and plaintiffs have agreed to settle what is known as the House antitrust lawsuit, which will result in more than $2.75 billion in damages paid by the NCAA over 10 years. But more importantly for schools, the settlement will eliminate scholarship caps for each sport and allow athletic departments to pay about $22 million annually to athletes.

Petitti expects the settlement to be filed with Judge Claudia Wilken this week and a final position determined within “the coming months.” Full details on the logistics, guardrails and NIL implications are still uncertain for the schools.

“In this new model, student-athletes have three areas where they can benefit,” Petitti said. “They still retain their scholarships, the academic benefits, the connection to academia that is vital. They can receive direct compensation from their institutions. Third, they can benefit from NIL to the extent that their NIL entitlements have value, locally or nationally.

“We have to build that model. That requires change and a tremendous amount of collaboration, first by building consensus within the Big Ten, and then spreading that to our colleagues in the other conferences.”

Petitti added that schools make many financial decisions without the conference’s involvement.

“This system is built to allow institutions to make individual decisions about what programs they want to support, how much they want to invest, which student-athletes get what, how many scholarships they offer, because we’re doing away with scholarship caps,” he said. “All of those decisions are made on an institution-by-institute basis, and I think that’s the right way to do it.”

(Photo: Matthew O’Haren / USA Today)