Petitti’s goal: More Big Ten games impacting CFP
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
ROSEMONT, Ill. — As the College Football Playoff management committee continues discussions about the future of the sport’s postseason, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti wants to ensure deeper conferences have access points that maximize the stretch run of the regular season.
In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday with ESPN, Petitti said he is focused on ensuring the Big Ten, which will increase to 18 members with four West Coast additions this summer, has November schedules packed with games that carry CFP implications, like many of the professional leagues do.
“We’ve got some work to do to figure out what that [future model] is, because obviously, it has real impact on your regular season,” Petitti told ESPN. “You want to make sure that your teams have the ability to have a breakout season and qualify. And we also have to be realistic about what should get you access, in terms of number of wins. Look, we want meaningful games late in the season.
“We want fans to think that you know a game in the second week of November, even if you’ve already lost two or three games, still has a lot of value. That’s the goal.”
Washington State president Kirk Schulz, who serves on the CFP board, told ESPN that a vote on a model for the 2024 season — the setup would feature the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams — was likely Tuesday. Petitti and the other commissioners, who make up the management committee, are set to meet Feb. 21 in Dallas.
The commissioners are expected to examine access and other topics as they discuss the CFP’s future contract.
“When you’re as deep as we are, we’ve got to do things to make sure that we have the access to the postseason that we think we deserve and has to be earned on the field,” Petitti said. “I’m a big believer in that, and that helps your regular season. More teams playing more meaningful games later in the season, I think we still can do more there.”
Earlier this month, the Big Ten and SEC announced a joint advisory group to address major topics and challenges around the college sports landscape. After working with the SEC as a TV executive earlier in his career, Petitti said a more formal group made sense. Petitti visited the SEC office in Alabama shortly after being hired at the Big Ten and has maintained a consistent dialogue with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.
The advisory group will include presidents and chancellors, as well as athletic directors from the two richest and most powerful conferences.
“Both of us looking at the depth of things that were changing so quickly, how do we increase our pace of our thinking, of our strategy, to meet these challenges?” Petitti said. “We have [athletic director] groups that are really experienced, that work well together, so it became a very natural thing.”
Petitti said the partnership is not intended to create an “isolation chamber” and that the two leagues are hoping to produce initiatives that benefit the entire college sports “ecosystem.”
“I don’t believe it puts us in an adversarial position with anybody else,” he said. “It’s just, we got to find some solutions here.”
Petitti called his first football season as Big Ten commissioner “remarkable,” noting the national championship won by Michigan, the first Big Ten team to earn a title since Ohio State in 2014. The Big Ten’s decision to impose in-season discipline for Michigan — coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the team’s final three regular-season games — amid the NCAA’s investigation into illegal off-campus scouting and signal stealing drew significant criticism for Petitti. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, in a piercing statement following the suspension, called the Big Ten’s actions during an NCAA investigation “completely unethical” and “an assault on the rights of everyone.”
Petitti said he and Manuel have moved past the friction and even sat next to each other at a dinner the night before Michigan played Alabama in the CFP semifinal at the Rose Bowl. Petitti called Manuel “one of the leaders in our room.”
“People sometimes misconstrue, these are never personal things, this is not personal,” Petitti said. “This is about doing what’s right for the conference, what’s right for our institutions. It doesn’t mean everybody’s going to agree with decisions that come from the league office, but that’s the job.
“At the end of the day, it’s about doing what you think is right in the process. That’s what we did, and there’s reaction to that, and we just worked our way through it.”
PHILADELPHIA — Phillies star shortstop Trea Turner was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 strained right hamstring but is expected back by the postseason.
Manager Rob Thomson said before Monday’s game against the New York Mets the MRI results were “better than expected” and that Turner’s injury wasn’t as severe as the strained left hamstring that sidelined him for six weeks last season.
Turner left Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning because of the injury.
Turner hit a solo homer in the sixth to narrow Philadelphia’s deficit to 4-2. When his turn came again in the seventh, Turner legged out a grounder and reached on a throwing error by Miami shortstop Otto Lopez.
“It was just kind of grabbing on me. It didn’t feel good,” Turner said Sunday. “I felt if I could have kept going, I would have.”
The 32-year-old leads the National League in both batting average (.305) and hits (179) this season.
Without Turner at the top of lineup against the Mets, two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper was batting leadoff for the first time since 2022.
The Phillies also placed 2024 All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm on the 10-day IL with a left shoulder injury.
“He’s been grinding with this left shoulder for a while now, fighting through it. It’s probably been 10 days,” Thomson said of Bohm. “He could feel it every once in a while in a swing. Yesterday he felt it on every swing, so we decided to shut this thing down.”
The Phillies recalled infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp and infielder Donovan Walton from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Turner’s and Bohm’s spots on the roster.
Kemp was starting at third base against the Mets.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Christian Yelich returned to the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night after their designated hitter missed five games because of lower back soreness.
Yelich batted fourth as the Brewers opened a three-game series at the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers.
The 33-year-old Yelich had played in 132 of Milwaukee’s 144 games this season before the opener in Texas, and was hitting .268 with team highs of 27 home runs and 92 RBIs. He played in only 73 games last year before season-ending back surgery that August.
“Feels good, wants to play. It’s an amazing thing that he’s played so many games,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Coming off back surgery, we just didn’t know what we were going to get, but the surgeon has assured him this is going to happen, but it’s amazing that it hadn’t happened yet, so we have to be thankful.”
Yelich was a late scratch last Wednesday before a 6-3 win over Philadelphia, and Murphy said then that Yelich had started experiencing some pain during a series against Arizona late last month. He still appeared in 22 consecutive games before coming out of the lineup last week.
“He came to me today and said, ‘I’m in there, right?’,” Murphy said. “He wants to play. That’s a good thing when your leader wants to get in there as soon as possible.”
Yelich made his 112th start at DH on Monday, and has also started 18 games in left field this season. Murphy said while “there’s a reason” to get Yelich a couple of games in the outfield before the end of the regular season, the manager said that’s not a priority.
In other injury news, right-hander Grant Anderson came off the injured list to boost the Brewers’ bullpen.
Right-hander Craig Yoho was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.
Anderson last pitched for Milwaukee on Aug. 23 before going on the injured list with tendinitis in his right ankle. The 28-year-old owns a 2-5 record and 2.87 earned run average in 57 appearances. He has struck out 66 over 62⅔ innings.
The Brewers still have All-Star closer Trevor Megill (right flexor), left-hander DL Hall (right oblique) and right-handers Nick Mears (back) and Shelby Miller (right elbow) on the injured list.
Murphy said Megill is scheduled to throw a simulated game Tuesday, and then would likely throw another one before being able to pitch again.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ATLANTA — Chicago Cubs closer Daniel Palencia was put on the 15-day injured list Monday, a day after straining his right shoulder.
Palencia was hurt in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 6-3 loss to Washington. He entered with a 3-1 lead, faced five batters and did not get an out, giving up two homers, a triple, a single and a walk. Palencia’s four-seam fastball averaged 98.5 mph, down 1.1 mph from his season average, and his splitter averaged 86.8 mph, a drop of 1.3 mph.
Palencia has 22 saves in 25 chances. The 25-year-old right-hander is 1-6 with a 3.00 ERA in his third major league season, all with Chicago.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Palencia will remain with the team during their three-game series in Atlanta before the Cubs return home.
“We’re just going to get the treatment and see how it responds over the next couple of days and then go from there,” Counsell said.
Ethan Roberts was recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
Chicago entered Monday two games ahead of San Diego for the top NL wild card.
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