Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti named 'biggest loser' of the week in college athletics

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti | Talia Sprague-Imagn Images

Another college football regular season marches toward a close while changes across the sport continue to be debated at the highest level. As of late November, the Big Ten is in dire straits, according to ESPN personality Paul Finebaum, who side-stepped into a tangent on the conference commissioner Tony Petitti during a Sunday episode of the Matt Barrie Show while recapping Week 13 of college football.

"You know, there were a lot of winners and losers lately," Finebaum prefaced. "The biggest loser last week was Tony Petitti and the Big Ten. This guy can’t shoot straight right now." Finebaum piled on Petitti, claiming that he's suffered a fall from grace.

"He was one of the most respected and influential people in the sport two years ago when he formed that alliance with the SEC, but I don’t hear anything good about him," said Finebaum. "He’s whiffed on almost everything." Specifically, he's hearing a lot of gripes from the Ohio State side.

"You know, Ohio State fans hate this Big Noon deal that they’re stuck having to play all the time," Finebaum continued. "They don’t like, they don’t embrace this private equity move. You know, they were belly-aching about Vegas being the site of the Big Ten media days. They don’t feel comfortable with these new schools in. And that’s a big story."

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) celebrates a touchdown | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Reports of private investment into the Big Ten with an equity stake bubbled up this month, which fetched concern for some fans and members of the programs, while Finebaum notes that television ratings, in his estimation, haven't been as strong this fall as the Big Ten would have hoped.

"He inherited the television deals," Finebaum said of Petitti. "They may do okay the final three weeks of the season because of Ohio State, because of Oregon last week and the Big Ten Championship game. But they have been absolutely destroyed by lesser games by the SEC on ABC, and that has to crush the commissioner of the Big Ten."

Matt Barrie chimed in to agree that anyone with two eyes and a pair of ears can tell that the SEC boasts a deeper roster of contenders, while the Big Ten, even optimistically, only has about 4-5 teams worth really watching. For Paul Finebaum, the lack of depth in a bloated league, plus poor press clippings and bad ratings on the old TV, have Tony Petitti in a world of hurt.