Tony Petitti takes firm stance against increasing role of CFP Selection Committee
By Mark Kern
Published:
Tony Petitti is in Las Vegas for B1G Media Days, with this being the first year the conference has had its media days on the West Coast. The B1G commissioner is talking to reporters about many various things when it comes to the College Football Playoff.
However, one thing that Petitti made crystal clear is that he or the B1G will not support selecting the role of the CFP Selection Committee.
“We want to better connect the regular season and the postseason… we want more conference games to matter in November,” Petitti told reporters. “As we said throughout this process, we are open to considering any form and ideas that come from our 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 gaining support from the Big Ten.”
One of the biggest issues when it comes to CFP expansion is what it would do in terms of keeping the regular season games meaningful. Perhaps no sport in America has had a regular season been more crucial. Before the playoff era, teams had to play nearly perfect in the regular season just to be able to compete for a national championship. With the CFP going to 12 games last season, teams had a little more wiggle room in terms of being able to lose a game or 2 during the regular season.
Another issue has been with conferences expanding in terms of where their teams are located. It has created more of a challenge to make balanced schedules within a conference.
Petitti doesn’t think there needs to be a set way to make a conference schedule, and that it should be up to the conference to make those types of decisions.
“It’s not a must (that the SEC go to 9 games),” Petitti said. “Each league will decide what is the best conference schedule for them. I think in a system where you have allocated spots… I don’t think we really care how many games you’re playing because you’re qualified based off your conference standings. It’s sort of up to you to run your own league and decide how you want to do it.”
