Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti insists there’s ‘absolutely no discussion’ surrounding conference expansion
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The Protect College Sports Act, if it becomes law, would give college athletics a 20-team maximum for conference membership. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti could be preparing for this possibility by seeking new potential members for his conference. However, he claims he’s not doing so.
During the Big Ten College Basketball Media Day on Thursday, Petitti told reporters he is not debating further realignment at this time.
“There’s absolutely no discussion taking place around expansion,” Petitti said, per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
The Big Ten currently has 18 member institutions, tied with the ACC for the most of any Power 4 conference. The SEC and Big 12 each boast 16 members.
In conjunction with the SEC’s addition of Texas and Oklahoma in 2024, the Big Ten lifted Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC from the Pac-12. The departure of that quartet sparked additional transition from the conference, leading Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to the Big 12. When Cal and Stanford joined the ACC, it left just Oregon State and Washington State remaining in the Conference of Champions.
The Pac-12 recently returned on the back of many former Mountain West schools, including Boise State and San Diego State, among others. If the 20-team cap is implemented, the ACC and Big 12 theoretically wouldn’t feature the same dispatching the Pac-12 experienced. Predicting anything in this era of college athletics, though, could be a fool’s errand.
