B1G Commissioner focuses on current members

INDIANAPOLIS — Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said Tuesday his only concern is the 18 teams in his conference when asked about further expansion.

Of course, he said the same thing last season during the Big Ten’s media days about USC and UCLA joining the conference, and within a few weeks Oregon and Washington were on their way as well.

So if there is any further expansion, it doesn’t seem likely, but in the world of college athletics, anything is possible.

“Look, we’re focused on the 18 right now,” Petitti said. “That’s where we’re focused. We had a lot of work to do. There was a lot of work to integrate USC and UCLA. We started that work right back up when we added Oregon and Washington. I think we’re really comfortable where we are right now.

“We have to get this conference right, and that is our focus.”

The addition of the two additional schools from the PAC-12 forced a hasty overhaul of the football schedule for the next two seasons and created even more challenges within the conference.

Still, Petitti believes the expansion has been worth it.

“I think the fit of the four is across the board — obviously we’re here to talk about football,” he said. “But if you look beyond that, you know, for our presidents and chancellors, the academic fit is really important, when you look at the strength in all the other sports that the four new members bring. So it’s a complete match on a lot of different factors. That’s what made the decision to add Oregon, Washington, which was made by my staff, and then the decision that Kevin Warren and his staff made to add USC, UCLA.

“I see a lot of strength in all the matchups, the footprint that we’re going to have going forward. I think we’ve got to do a lot of things right, but I feel good about the way we’re positioned for the future in terms of the health and strength of the conference.”

Other topics Petitti discussed:

• The Big Ten championship game will be held in Indianapolis for the next four seasons, but Petitti envisions scenarios in which championships in all sports are spread across the conference.

“I think you’ll see us expand,” he said. “I think it’s important to make sure that markets across the country can experience Big Ten championships. It’s a really good way to tie the conference together. I think over time you’ll see the geographic footprint expand as we take into account competitive issues.

“After our championships, teams obviously go to the NCAA tournaments and championships. With all of that in mind. I think you can fully expect that over time you’ll see the footprint of how we conduct championships change and grow.”

• Petitti said the conference football game will go ahead on Friday night, given the conference’s media rights agreements.

“When you look at our footprint on Saturdays, with the three broadcast partners backed by the cable presence and the Big Ten Network, I think Friday is an opportunity for national exposure,” Petitti said. “I think you’ll see some programs there really embrace the opportunity to play on Fridays.

“Of course, we don’t want to burden any institution. We care about what happens in the stadium and what happens on campus. But when you look at it, it’s an opportunity to show programs how they’re developing in games. I think it’s really great that we have that footprint.”

Petitti said he understands if schools don’t want to play on Friday.

“I think on the hurdle side, look, there’s just traditional places that want to play more on Saturdays,” he said. “We understand and respect that. It’s a discussion across the league that includes all 18 of us about how best to structure our schedule. Where coaches embrace the opportunity to have that exposure on Friday nights, we try to capitalize on that. That’s how we approach it.

“Where we’re probably headed will change over time. Collectively, we understand that we’re all in this together, and we need to take advantage of every broadcast opportunity to make the conference as strong and healthy as possible.”

• There will be no conference games in the first week of the American football season this year, as was the case in previous years.

“We’re obviously playing nine conference games,” Petitti said. “We’re trying to balance that. I think Kerry Kenny and our team have done a really great job of coming up with a schedule that takes into account so many factors, obviously the non-conference schedule, the competitive balance, travel, getting through the season.

“I think the core of what we’re doing is that we’re in the thick of the league in November, and that’s the most important part. I’m more concerned about that run to the end of the season than necessarily the league games in the first or second week.”