Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti opened Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday by saying he’d like to see his league play the SEC more often in the regular season.
“I think it would be great if we played each other more.”
That sounded straightforward enough. But Petitti’s next answer undercut the message fast. When asked whether the Big Ten would require its schools to schedule a non-conference Power Four opponent each season, he said the league is not ready to make that move.
“Our focus is seeing clarity on the playoff & access to the playoff before we make that decision.”
That’s the part that makes the whole thing hard to square. The SEC already requires its schools to play a non-conference Power Four opponent every year, and now it has also added a ninth conference game beginning this year. The Big Ten, meanwhile, still does not require its members to play a Power Four non-conference game.
For years, Big Ten coaches, athletic directors and fans complained that the SEC had an edge because it played only eight conference games. But the SEC’s schedule setup still included a Power Four non-conference opponent, while the Big Ten’s did not. In practice, both leagues were requiring nine Power Four games each season.
Now the SEC has gone to nine conference games, which pushes that number to 10 Power Four games a year. The Big Ten has not matched that by requiring a Power Four non-conference opponent, so its schools are still only locked into nine Power Four games.
That is why Petitti’s comments landed the way they did. He said he wants more Big Ten-SEC matchups, but he stopped short of making the one change that would actually push his league toward that kind of scheduling.
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