At Nashville summit, the Big Ten and SEC remind us that they already are the super leagues

NASHVILLE — Not long after Tony Petitti started his new job as the Big Ten commissioner last winter, he met with his athletic directors. And they give him a directive that would prove quite central to the 18 months that followed.

The ADs told him, You gotta get close to Greg.

The Big Ten’s campus leaders wanted their new commissioner to work hand-in-hand with the SEC’s Greg Sankey, the longest-tenured power conference commissioner and arguably the most powerful person in college athletics. And so he did. Soon, the two commissioners were in regular contact. They eventually formed an advisory group featuring leaders from both conferences.

And on Thursday, the two commissioners brought all of their athletic directors to the Grand Hyatt here to meet, to commiserate, to socialize … and to terrify the rest of college sports. There are plenty of administrators on other campuses and in other league offices worried about the two men who gathered here on Thursday, fearing that they will look for ways to support their Goliaths and disenfranchise Division I’s Davids. These two leagues continue to pull away from the rest of major college athletics, both in terms of revenue generation and influence. There’s always been stratification within Division I, but it’s growing greater seemingly by the day.

Asked about the perception that the Big Ten and SEC are continuing to separate themselves from the rest of college athletics, Sankey said he thinks it’s a “created” perception. He reiterated that he’s long been frustrated by the makeup of various NCAA governing bodies and the belief that representatives from smaller conferences facing different realities than the SEC should not slow down decision-making at the highest level of college sports.

“The big problems are not fixed in big rooms filled with people,” Sankey…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nashville-summit-big-ten-sec-231033031.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-10 23:10:33

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