Big Ten Commissioner Pushes for Playoff Format That Rewards Mediocrity

Big Ten Media Days are being held in Las Vegas this year, and the only thing hotter than the Vegas sun has been the stuff coming out of Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti’s mouth. But I must say that the words coming out sound a lot more like something that came out of his rear end rather than his mouth.

Much like his buddy Greg Sankey from the SEC, Tony Petitti acts like a know-it-all and thinks he is the smartest man in the world, but this is reality, and he never is.

Petitti has been pushing for a 16-team, 4-4-2-2-1 format for a while now. It gives the SEC and the Big Ten four teams in, the Big 12 and the ACC two teams in, three at-large spots, and one final spot for the highest-ranked group of six champion.

“We are open to considering any format ideas that come from our colleagues or the CFP staff,” Petitti said. “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.”

Essentially, Petitti aims to determine the most straightforward method for the Big Ten to secure four guaranteed spots without a single football game being played. Doing that takes away the human element of this whole thing and guarantees a whole lot of money for his conference. And if the Big Ten gets another school or two in from those at-large bids, then it’s just icing on the cake.

When talking about the strength of schedule, Petitti had quite the take. “If you’re 6-3 in the Big Ten, I would argue that’s a good record,” Petitti said, according to On3’s Brett McMurphy. “If you stumble in the non-conference, I don’t know why that would disqualify you [from playoff contention].”

What Petitti is saying is that the non-conference is meaningless. And when you look around his conference, remember what Indiana just did? They took Virginia off the schedule and replaced it with Kennesaw State. The Hoosiers are going to try to load up their non-conference slate with a bunch of FCS and a group of six schools to fluff up their schedule.

Keep in mind that the only three-loss team to make the playoffs last season was Clemson, and they got in because they won the ACC. If not for that, there would be zero chance they would have gotten in.

Take Iowa for example who went 6-3 in the Big Ten yet lost to Iowa State in the non-conference and finished with an 8-4 record in the regular season. They didn’t beat a single ranked team and out of all of their eight wins, only one of them came against a school who finished above .500 in Big Ten play which was Minnesota who went 5-4.

Did Iowa deserve to get in? Absolutely not. And good for the Big 12 for calling them out. The Big Ten is going to do whatever it can in its power to make on-field results not matter. Pretty soon, they are going to avoid playing anyone else outside of their own conference because they think they can get away with it and create their own path to the playoff.

I say screw them!

Anytime Tony Petitti or Greg Sankey says something stupid, we should respond like the Big 12 did. These people don’t care about the sport because they are selfish and only care about how much money they can make. People say money is the root of all evil, and if that’s true, I wouldn’t be shocked if Tony Petitti owns a set of horns and a flaming pitchfork.