Next college football season will usher in an exciting new era with the expanded, 12-team playoff coming to a streaming device or high definition television near you. Add that to expanded conferences, most notably the additions in the Big Ten and SEC, and it should make for some compelling and meaningful games, with more teams in the mix late in the year than what we have today.
However, to make it all the more enticing, games within conferences will need to look at scheduling and see what makes sense. In the case of the Big Ten, it appears that commissioner Tony Petitti would like to beef things up to have more games with College Football Playoff implications late in the year.
Petitti sat down with ESPN for a wide-ranging interview and touched on that very subject. He didn’t pull punches or look to make schedules as easy as possible for the big boys. No, instead, he seems to be ready to go all in.
“We’ve got some work to do to figure out what that [future model] is, because obviously, it has real impact on your regular season,” Petitti told ESPN. “You want to make sure that your teams have the ability to have a breakout season and qualify. And we also have to be realistic about what should get you access, in terms of number of wins. Look, we want meaningful games late in the season.
“We want fans to think that you know a game in the second week of November, even if you’ve already lost two or three games, still has a lot of value. That’s the goal.”
Sat down with B1G commissioner Tony Petitti and talked several topics:
– The link between future CFP access and November schedules
– The B1G-SEC advisory group, which isn't an "isolation chamber"
– His relationship with Michigan after tension last fallhttps://t.co/98GvavzlUN— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) February 14, 2024
That’s also a bit of a shift from what we’ve seen from other leagues. For example, the SEC has historically played one less conference game than the Big Ten and threw in a nonconference date towards the end of the conference schedule to almost stack the deck for its teams. Those late in the year nonconference games haven’t exactly been must-see television.
We’ll see if the SEC follows suit of this desired scheduling shift, especially after the two money brokers of the sport announced a joint venture to be lock-step in some of the emerging issues in college football. Even if not, Pettiti looks like he’s ready to make things interesting for fans and teams.
“When you’re as deep as we are, we’ve got to do things to make sure that we have the access to the postseason that we think we deserve and has to be earned on the field,” Petitti said. “I’m a big believer in that, and that helps your regular season. More teams playing more meaningful games later in the season, I think we still can do more there.”
Count me as a proponent of this type of mindset, especially win one or two losses won’t break a season like we’ve seen happen in years past. Opportunity would seem to be knocking on the doorstep of an expanded playoff, and let’s hope that everyone answers the door with scheduling.
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