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Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti says league is open to examining any Playoff model
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti is pushing back a bit on any narrative that his league is locked into the 4+4+2+2+1+3 model for the future of the College Football Playoff.
On Monday, FOX broadcaster Joel Klatt published a wide-ranging sit-down conversation with Petitti in his “Big Noon Conversations” series. That conversation covered a number of topics but particularly revolved around the future of the Playoff.
Petitti maintained his belief in the 4+4+2+2+1+3 model for a number of reasons. He said his core concept is to prioritize the regular season while also keeping more teams relevant even later into the season.
That format also includes the potential for play-in games across the country during conference championship weekend. Petitti believes those games would remove the idea that the Big Ten is just being handed extra bids:
“We’re trying to focus on, at least in the Big Ten, is we’re not asking to be handed anything. We’re playing 9 conference games, we want to play tough play-in games to get there, and we want to create an incentive for our schools to schedule more tough nonconference games,” said Petitti.
Throughout that conversation, Klatt also pushed back and took a shot a bit at the 5+11 formula, one that has gained traction among the SEC and the Big 12. Klatt described the 5+11 pitch as “inexplicable” and “out of left field,” while continuing to express his desire to see what he describes as an “access-based” model of play-in games over the “selection-based” model of allowing the committee to choose at-large bids.
Klatt even took things a step further, gauging Petitti’s interest in a potential 4-4-2.5-2.5-1-2 model that has been put out there. In that model, the ACC and Big 12 would send their 3rd-place teams to a play-in game against each other, with the winner getting an automatic bid.
Petitti did not have much to say at this juncture, but he’s onboard with examining any option anyone wants to pitch:
“I’ve read about that and I want to be fair and not pre-ordain anything, because it hasn’t been presented,” said Petitti about that format. “I haven’t seen any real substantive conversation about that model. Send us whatever you want to send and we’ll look at it.”
For now, fans can gear up for the 2025 season, and the latest College Football Playoff odds feature Ohio State and Texas as the early frontrunners at BetMGM.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.