Tony Petitti shares thoughts on NCAA Tournament entry, potential expansion

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Just over a month before the college basketball season starts, the idea of NCAA Tournament expansion continues to come up. Leadership reportedly presented a proposal to move the 68-team field to either 72 or 76 earlier this year, but Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti noted some important questions about expansion.

Speaking with reporters Thursday at Big Ten Basketball Media Days, Petitti said he defers to conference coaches about expanding the NCAA Tournament. But he, too, wanted to know more of a plan before saying it would be a good or bad thing.

On the whole, Petitti sensed the Big Ten would be receptive to tournament expansion. But, he said, it’s not as easy to do as some might think.

“Something like that, I really rely on what our coaches think, to be honest,” Petitti said. “In terms of the first place to go to have conversations about expansion, [it] should be our coaches, who do it and give their take on the way it would work. I think on the NCAA side, we’ve had a lot of conversations with NCAA staff, with Dan [Gavitt], with President [Charlie] Baker. So I think there’s positive feelings towards expansion in our league.

“I think also, the detail of how the seeding would work, I’d just need to hear more about how that would work, depending on how many teams they add, what the seeding looks like, what the first two days look like. Because it’s not as simple as saying, add more teams. I think there’s an impact in actually how you’d structure those first couple days and what types of changes they’d be considering or not. I think that’s relevant and impacts how you feel about the idea to expand.”

Tony Petitti: NCAA Tournament expansion different from College Football Playoff

Next week, the Big Ten and SEC will meet to discuss issues across college athletics. That reportedly includes College Football Playoff entry, with potentially four bids for both teams.

With that in mind, Tony Petitti was asked if NCAA Tournament entry could come up during the meeting. However, he pointed out the difference between a 12-team field of teams and a 68-team model. Once again, his big question was about seeding and the impact expansion would have.

“I mean, the field is so big,” Petitti said. “So AQs across, more. I think that’s a different concept than what we’ve talked about publicly with football. Even the size of the field, I think it’s just different. We haven’t had specific conversations about, ‘If you expand, what does that mean for additional AQs?’ I think it’s more about figuring out who else is going to get in.

“I think obviously, that would help on the Big Ten side, to get those teams on the bubble in if the field expands. From there, I’d want to see how it’s seeded.”