- Big Ten commissioner said there have been “absolutely no discussions” about expanding.
- The Big Ten is “aggressively supporting” the Protect College Sports Act.
- The bill limits Power Four conferences to 20 schools.
The Big Ten addressed the issue of conference expansion ahead of potential capping from the Protect College Sports Act, which has cleared the Senate and will be taken up by the House of Representatives.
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The conference could add two more members under the pending bill’s 20-school limit, but Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said Thursday that there have been “absolutely no discussions taking place around expansion and there haven’t been for quite some time.”
At Big Ten basketball media day, Petitti said the conference is “aggressively supporting the bill” and supports both the original and amended expansion language of the bill, which increased the school limit from 19 to 20 per Power Four conference.
“There’s nothing formal,” he said of expansion. “There’s no conversations coming in. We’re focused right now on the bill, giving direction to our athletic directors and our coaches about what the next system is going to be.”
Petitti expressed his contentment with the current makeup of the conference.
“This conference has got 18 strong members,” Petitti said. “We’re focused on that. There’s lots of things that we think we can do inside the conference to continue to grow the position that we have with the 18 members we have.”
4 schools ask House leaders for changes
Part of the urgency surrounding conference realignment talks is due to the independence requirement in the bill.
In addition to the 20-school limit, the Protect College Sports Act would require any school leaving a Power Four conference for another to be independent for three years. The waiting period would only be in effect for the first six years of the law’s passing.
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Florida State, Miami, Clemson and North Carolina voiced their displeasure with the independence requirement in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
In the letter, which was obtained by Tomahawk Nation last week, the four universities asked for the removal of the independence requirement and for the conference school limit to increase from 20 to 22.
“The three-year independence requirement would impose a significant additional consequence on an institution seeking to change conferences, particularly when conferences and their members have already negotiated the financial terms surrounding an exit,” the letter said.
What’s next for the Protect College Sports Act?
On Sept. 28, the Senate passed the bill with a 77-22 vote. The bill then moved to the House, which is in recess until Nov. 9.
The Deseret News’ Cami Mondeaux reported that “the House could return earlier than scheduled in order to vote on the bill, but GOP leaders have not indicated whether they will bring them back. Even if they do, it’s likely House members would want time to examine the bill’s provisions — and potentially make some changes of its own.”
If passed by the House, the bill would then have to be signed into law by President Donald Trump, who previously said he would like members of the House to return earlier than scheduled to pass the bill.
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