After an offseason dominated by intrigue and previously unimaginable headlines, Bill Belichick is only about a month away from coaching his first football game at North Carolina.

Before he does that, though, the legendary NFL coach will get to take part in one of his favorite exercises — speaking in front of a group of hundreds of reporters.

Heading into his first season ever as a college football coach, Belichick will make his scheduled appearance at ACC media days in Charlotte on July 24, where he’ll discuss his Tar Heels team ahead of its highly anticipated September 1 season-opener against TCU.

Since North Carolina stunned much of the college football world by hiring Belichick last December, the six-time Super Bowl champion has been breathlessly discussed, though usually outside of the confines of football and his new job.

Belichick’s relationship with Jordon Hudson, his 24-year-old girlfriend, became a source of widespread public fascination that went beyond amusing social media posts of the couple wearing costumes or doing beach yoga. Hudson famously interjected during a CBS Sunday Morning interview in April when Belichick was asked how the two met, a moment that was captured on camera and set off a wave of reporting on Hudson, her role as Belichick’s manager and what impact, if any, it has had on the North Carolina program.

In Chapel Hill, he’ll look to inject life into a program that has often been described as a sleeping giant, but has routinely struggled to wake up. Though they’ve been a perennial bowl participant for the past 40 years, the Tar Heels haven’t won the ACC since 1980 and have won at least 10 games only once since 1998.

USA TODAY Sports will be providing live updates and highlights from Belichick’s interviews at ACC media days. Follow along here:

Bill Belichick ACC media days live updates

This section will be updated closer to the start of Belichick’s news conference

Bill Belichick non-committal on North Carolina QB battle

Arguably the most important position on the North Carolina roster is still a bit of a question mark heading into Bill Belichick’s first season at the helm.

The Tar Heels have six quarterbacks on their roster, but the battle for the starting spot is widely seen as coming down to Max Johnson, a Texas A&M transfer who was their starter last season before breaking his leg in the season-opener against Minnesota; Gio Lopez, a South Alabama transfer; and Bryce Baker, a freshman who was a four-star recruit and top-100 prospect nationally in the 2025 class.

Belichick said every quarterback will get an opportunity to win the job, with the final result of the competition coming down to their play on the field.

‘We’ll let the competition play out on the field,’ he said in an interview on SportsCenter. ‘I can’t control how players play. Never have and never will. Performance is up to the players and we’ll do the best we can to coach all of them.’

ACC media clears out after Bill Belichick news conference

Bill Belichick wasn’t the only person to leave the hotel ballroom in Charlotte once he was done with his news conference.

Most of the assembled media departed the room with him, with Belichick’s more intimate breakout session with reporters taking place shortly after he was done at the dais. By the time NC State coach Dave Doeren had his news conference, the room that Belichick had filled was largely empty, prompting Doeren to note that it had gotten a little sleepier in the room.

Bill Belichick breaks down difference between coaching NFL and college players

One of the biggest questions facing Belichick entering his first season at North Carolina is how the NFL lifer will adjust to coaching college football, particularly during a time of such profound change in the sport.

During an interview with SiriusXM Radio Thursday, Belichick detailed the differences between coaching at the college and professional level. He noted that college coaches have more time to train players and, because of larger rosters, get more practice reps. He believes college players are more eager and less stubborn than their NFL counterparts, though he added that someone like Tom Brady was always open to learning and soaking in new information.

“They don’t have as many bad habits,’ Belichick said. ‘They’re more anxious to learn fundamentally the right way, or at least the way we’re teaching them to do things. They really embrace it. That’s not always the case in the NFL. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t.”

Bill Belichick answers question about fullbacks

Over the course of his two decades with the New England Patriots, the famously terse Belichick developed a reputation for long-winded answers about football minutiae, particularly when it pertained to important-but-overlooked positions like long-snapper and punter.

Sure enough, one of the three questions he received during his news conference Thursday was about the evolution of the fullback position.

Bill Belichick details relationship with Dabo Swinney

Earlier on Thursday of ACC media days, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney discussed how much he has already learned from Bill Belichick in his brief time in the ACC.

The feeling is evidently mutual.

Belichick described Swinney as a ‘friend for a long time,’ noting that the two often interacted when Belichick was with the Patriots and was evaluating Clemson players he was interested in drafting.

‘I have so much respect for him,’ Belichick said.

Bill Belichick drawing huge crowds at ACC media days

Even for something as mundane as walking from one media hit to another inside the convention space of a Charlotte hotel, Bill Belichick has been attracting a crowd of reporters chronicling his every step — including when he’s coming out of the bathroom.

What time is Bill Belichick speaking at ACC media days?

Date: Thursday, July 24
Time: 2 p.m. ET

Belichick is scheduled to take the stage at ACC media days in Charlotte at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 24.

What channel is ACC media days on today?

TV channel: ACC Network
Streaming: ESPN app | ESPN+ | Fubo (free trial)

Belichick’s news conference at ACC media days, as well as all coach and player news conferences at the event, will air on the ACC Network.

Streaming options include the ESPN app, which requires a valid cable login to access; ESPN+, ESPN’s subscription streaming service; and Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.

Will Jordon Hudson be at ACC media days?

It’s unclear whether Belichick’s girlfriend, who he described in his memoir as his “creative muse,” will be joining him in Charlotte for ACC media days.

At the very least, Belichick will be in Charlotte with four of his players — defensive backs Thaddeus Dixon and Will Hardy, quarterback Gio Lopez and wide receiver Jordan Shipp — all of whom will also be speaking with the assembled media.

ACC media days schedule today

With Belichick serving as the headliner — which is no small feat considering he’s speaking the same day as a two-time national championship head coach in Clemson’s Dabo Swinney — here’s a rundown of what teams will be sending out their coaches and players to meet with the media Thursday:

All times Eastern

Boston College: 10-10:30 a.m.
Virginia Tech: 11-11:30 a.m.
Clemson: 12-12:30 p.m.
Duke: 1-1:30 p.m.
North Carolina: 2-2:30 p.m.
NC State: 3-3:30 p.m.

Playing in her first singles match in more than a year, Williams, the 45-year-old tennis great who is currently unranked, thrilled fans when she beat Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday July 22. Stearns is 23 and ranked 35th in the world.

That same day, 45-year-old pitcher Rich Hill became the oldest player in Kansas City Royals history when he started against the Cubs. He allowed just one earned run in five innings during his first game since September 2024.

Three days earlier, 46-year-old boxer Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring for the first time in almost four years. Pacquiao electrified the crowd when he fought 30-year-old Mario Barrios, the reigning WBC world welterweight champion, to a majority draw.

“I think in general, athletes at that level are just a different sort of type of human being to begin with,’’ said Miho Tanaka, an orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. “But I do think that longevity really requires that perfect amount of preparedness and support.’’

She cited “optimizing kinematics,” and other experts who talked to USA TODAY cited “recovery methodologies,’’ “wet float and dry float therapy’’ and “genetics.’’ In interviews with USA TODAY Sports, they offered their insight as the feats of Williams, Hill and Pacquaio put a spotlight on a broader phenomenon in sports

Older athletes playing at an elite level. 

Sophistication a key factor

William Kraemer, a former coach of multiple sports who became a prolific researcher of sports science, is now watching something relatively new.

Not just the likes of Venus Williams, Rich Hill and Manny Pacquiao, but other athletes thriving despite their comparatively advanced age. That list includes LeBron James, who will turn 41 during the NBA’s upcoming season; Alex Ovechkin, who will turn 40 during the NHL’s next season; and Lionel Messi, who is a comparative youngster at 38.

“What they’re doing now is much more sophisticated in their training, recovery and testing,’’ said Kraemer, Senior Advisor for Sports Performance and Sports Sciences at Ohio State. “It’s just so much more knowledge going into athletic training.’’

That includes improved individualization and sequencing of workout, said Kraemer, who also cited technology such as the Oura ring, worn to monitor health and fitness metrics; dry float therapy, floating on a water-filled membrane without getting wet, and wet float therapy, floating in a tank with salt water and getting wet; and, for sleep, hyperbaric chambers that can cost as much as $90,000.

“It is growing to be the norm just because you got such high-level athletes working and all the money involved,’’ Kraemer said.

The price tag for such technology is likely no barrier for wealthy older athletes.

Maverick Carter, the longtime friend and business partner of James, told GQ in 2018 that James spends more than $1 million a year to keep his body in the best condition possible.

 “I have no idea where the amount of money came from, but I do invest in my body for sure,’’ James said earlier this year on The Pat McAfee Show. “Whatever I can do to continue playing at this level, man, I’m going to continue to do while I’m playing.’’

Working wiser not harder

Dedication appears to be a unifying aspect of older athletes thriving.

After winning her first-round match this week, Williams said, “You guys don’t know how much work goes into this, like it’s 9-to-5 except you’re running the whole time. Lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day.’’

But athletes at the top of their game and defying age aren’t necessarily working harder, said Mike Boyle, a former strength and conditioning coach who worked for the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox.

“I think there used to be much more emphasis on how heavy you lift and how tired you get kind of thing,’’ he said. “And I think people are starting to realize that those probably aren’t really the best metrics.’’

Take Pacquiao. Justin Fortune, Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach, said the boxer has accepted the need for more rest since suffering a shocking defeat in 2017 to Jeff Horn by unanimous decision.

“He burned himself out about two weeks before the fight,’’ Fortune said.

Miho Tanaka, an orthopedic surgeon and Director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, suggested wisdom is also at work in handling injuries.

James has dealt with an assortment of injuries in recent years, as has Messi since joining Inter Miami in 2003.

“I think as athletes age in their careers, they can become a little bit wiser in terms of how they approach injuries and how they come back from them as well,’’ she said. “They know when to not push too far.’’

Nutrition plans, blood work, supplements

James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam winner, both have touted the benefits of personal chefs. But Hill, in his 21st season in the majors, would need to incur little extra expense for meals and supplements, said Marie Spano, a registered dietitian who works for the Washington Nationals.

“Baseball has changed dramatically, going from back in the day they were handed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made by a clubby,’’ said Spano, who also has worked for the Atlanta Braves. “Even when I started in 2013 in baseball, it’s changed dramatically since then because of the collective bargaining agreement. Players expect more and teams have to give more.

“They spend an astronomical amount on food and supplements. Every team has a registered dietician there and advanced teams are doing blood work. They’re doing more measures on body composition, muscle bone and utilizing that data to drive interventions.’’

It’s the older players who make best use of the resources, according to Spano.

“As I always say to every rookie, every older athlete I’ve worked with has everything dialed in,’’ she said. “They’re the ones that are asking for detailed nutrition plans, they want the blood work done, they want their supplements dialed in, they’re regularly checking in with you.’’

The secret pill

Kraemer said there will always be the presence of ergogenics – or, more colloquially, banned performance enhancing drugs. But he said suspicion stemming from the success of older athletes “is a reverse prejudice of highly fit athletes.’’

“Poor Joe Namath and Dick Butkus would’ve played many more years successfully, but they had lousy orthopedic surgeons back in the day,’’ Kraemer said. “So you look at how surgical interventions and sports medicine, athletic training, physical therapy also has elevated. So that’s a whole ‘nother thing. We know so much more about sports medicine.’’

Boyle, the strength and conditioning coach, said, “Maybe it’s my naivety, but I think there’s less of that stuff going on. But just the general nutritional knowledge has really increased.

“I think there’s less people looking for, say, the secret pill and more people who are just consistently eating better and consistently taking better care of themselves.’’

Rust or rest?

Eric Cressey, who runs high-performance facilities and works with major leaguers, cites the importance of load management.

That has become a controversial issue in the NBA with fans complaining after buying game tickets only to discover star players are on the bench. But James, for one, has embraced the need for more rest and recovery.

Then there is extended rest.

Pacquiao said his four-year layoff left his body fresh during his return. Williams looked fresh despite not having played a singles match since March 2024. Instead of rust, fans may have seen the benefits of rest.

The value of rest may be eclipsing the fear of rest.

“When you see these aging athletes, the number one thing that kind of comes down to is volume management,’’ Cressy said, referring to limiting the stress put on an athlete’s body.

Then, during a recent three-day span, Williams, Hill and Pacquiao seemingly turned back the clock.

“I don’t think these things surprise me, just because you do see players doing it at the really high level,’’ Cressey said, “and there’s just going to be more and more of them.’

If Father Time is undefeated, as James likes to say, you might as well push it to the limit. See if you can’t extend Father Time to extra innings, overtime, another round, or in the case of Venus Williams, one more set.

WASHINGTON — It is in some ways the soundtrack to the Cincinnati Reds’ season: A high-pitched chorus of youngsters, Sharpies in hand, shouting for their favorite player.

Yet the love that America’s youngest baseball fans have for Elly De La Cruz extends far beyond the Queen City.

As the National League’s greatest players exited the field following batting practice before last week’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, Shohei Ohtani, the game’s global superstar, was flanked by his translator and a security officer, per usual. Yet the 6-foot-3 Ohtani went virtually unnoticed as he slipped into the dugout, dwarfed – in both stature and, for the moment, attention – by the 6-5, dreadlocked figure behind him.

“Elly. Elly! Elly, PLEASE!” screamed the throng of youngsters, almost all of them clad in Braves caps yet some of them sporting the No. 44 jersey worn by one of the game’s most dynamic talents.

And while De La Cruz’s ability to play a capable shortstop, slug homers and steal bases with equal aplomb – he’s on pace for a 29-homer, 42-steal season – appeals to all audiences, his superhero vibes have a particular resonance with the young.

Earlier this month, Major League Baseball released its top-selling jerseys for the first half. De La Cruz ranked 15th on a list in which the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees comprised the top six positions and seven of the top 16.

A slightly deeper dive reveals even greater resonance with the kids: De La Cruz ranks 10th among sales of youth-sized jerseys, according to data provided by MLB.

It is a brewing phenomenon evident across the major leagues and all the way to outposts like Corpus Christi, Texas.

“He understands that he is a role model and he’s still young in this game,” says Reds catcher Jose Trevino, the Texas native who played three seasons in New York with Aaron Judge, No. 2 on the jersey list behind Ohtani. “So, when he finds this relationship between him being a superstar and those kids, he goes out of his way to make sure those kids feel that kind of presence.

“It’s superstar-esque. Everything about him is great. But I think him being able to relate to those young fans is cool. You see kids from my hometown that people are making jerseys for and they’re like, ‘Oh, why are you No. 44?’ And they start listing all these numbers.

“And it’s, ‘No, it’s for Elly De La Cruz. Elly De La Cruz.’ You saw it with No. 99. Now you’re seeing it with No. 44.”

Indeed, De La Cruz, 23, chose a number greatly associated with baseball badassery, from Hank Aaron to Reggie Jackson to a Reds legend who preceded him, Eric Davis. It looks even larger than life draped across his long torso, especially when he extends his frame to make a play at shortstop or gobble up the basepaths with his long stride and 91st percentile sprint speed.

That supersized appearance somehow makes him more accessible to those who congregate near ropelines and thrust their hands under protective netting, hoping to establish connection with a talent that, once between the lines, becomes almost otherworldly.

“Maybe because I always try to be myself. I don’t try to be somebody else. And I always have fun,” De La Cruz tells USA TODAY Sports. “Whenever I can, I go to them, say hi, take a picture with them.

“Not every time, because sometimes we’re working. But whenever I can, I do that.”

An inspiring giant

Greater forces have certainly tried to capitalize on that connection. De La Cruz joined Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson as cover athletes on MLB The Show’s 2025 edition. The league itself produced a Claymation-style short featuring De La Cruz bursting through walls and sending baseballs into the stratosphere.

Yet all that national promotion and blue-chip platforming has its limits if the star in question fails to resonate on a personal level with fans.

“He’s so personable,” says Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott, who spent All-Star week palling about Truist Field with De La Cruz. “I think (kids) see him and see how much fun he’s having playing the game and how loose he is. He’s still young, so he’s still a kid himself. We all have that in us, still.

“The kids want to see him, they want to talk to him, they want to get their picture taken with him because they want to be like him. They may not be 6-6, but he inspires them.

“He’s a good kid himself, too. It makes total sense.”

For De La Cruz, emerging as something of a face of the game and buzzworthy figure has been balanced by his growth as a player. It’s easy to forget he’s in just his second full season, with a very high ceiling to reach while doing the everyday things that can get him there.

Elly De La Cruz: American idol

The growth is evident. While De La Cruz was an All-Star both this year and last, his overall offensive profile is far healthier now.

He’s upped his on-base percentage from .339 to .357, and his adjusted OPS from 119 to 127. And after striking out 218 times last season, most in the majors, De La Cruz has trimmed his strikeout percentage from 31.3 to 24.3, while his walk rate has inched north of 10%.

Defensive metrics tell a murkier story, as they often do. De La Cruz was worth 14 outs above average last season, but that’s dropped to -2 even as his fielding percentage has bumped up from .954 to .966. The Reds consensus is De La Cruz is making the routine play more routinely this season, even if the metrics are unkind.

“He’s being a lot smarter, a lot more in tune with himself, with what he can do,” says Abbott, the ace of a 53-50 Reds club on the doorstep of the NL wild card race. “He’s still going to have some growth, still going to have some maturity. It’s going to be scary when all that stuff hits.

“When he’s making every play, hitting 500-foot homers, throwing 95 across the diamond – when he’s doing all that, it’s a very fun game to watch.”

Even if he were playing Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, De La Cruz’s frame and speed might suggest an eventual move to the outfield. Regardless of locale, the singlemindedness that compels De La Cruz to post every day – he and the Mets’ Pete Alonso have played in an NL-high 103 games this season – will follow him around the diamond.

“I just try to play the game right. Try to do my job every day,” he says. “I want to represent my country and the team I play for.

“I just want to do it right.”

That singular mindset and commitment to routine sometimes means De La Cruz must bypass the throng of kids to get his work in, a situation he says is “tough, because a lot of those kids come to see us playing. Sometimes we’ve got to do something; we don’t have time to sign.

“It’s sad, but we gotta do it like that sometimes.”

And sometimes, the role is reversed.

When De La Cruz was growing up in the Dominican Republic, he idolized Derek Jeter because, he says, the Yankees legend “was a great leader, and respected the game.”

After De La Cruz made the NL’s 2024 All-Star squad, there was his chance, on the Fox set, to tell Jeter just that on live television. The laconic Jeter expressed his appreciation.

And De La Cruz extended his hand across the table, beaming, and in all earnestness told his idol, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Kid meets idol, a tale older than time. And with every passing year, it is De La Cruz making those memories, and then taking the field and giving his admirers something with which to aspire, unlikely as it may be to repeat his feats.

“He’s the modern player: You get your speed, you get your power, you get your arm strength. He’s got all the tools in the world,” says Trevino.

“If I’m a kid, I’m like man, I wanna be like Elly – fast like Elly, hit the ball far like Elly.”

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“Attention has always just kind of came to me,’’ Shields told USA TODAY Sports. ” I can go and hide in the corner and people would still find a way to (approach her). People gravitate toward me and it’s been that way my entire life.’’

On Saturday, July 29, Shields is expected to fight in front of a sellout crowd of 19,000 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, according to Dmitriy Salita, promoter of the 11-fight card with Shields putting her undisputed heavyweight title against Lani Daniels in the main event.

It would be the biggest crowd she’s fought in front of – and, according to Salita, she has become more than a boxing superstar. He said hip hop icon Rick Ross will be walking her to the ring.

“The Fire Inside,’’ a movie about Shields’ life and boxing career, was released in December.

“She grew up in Flint, Michigan, which is one of the most challenged places in the United States, and has now reached the pinnacle of sports and reaching the pinnacle of being a celebrity,’’ Salita said. “And I believe that women and men and folks from around communities can connect to it and get inspired by it. And she definitely talks the talk, but she walks the walk faster than she talks the talk.’’

Walking the walk: Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medal, has won world titles in five divisions and is 16-0 with three knockouts. In 2023, she also became the first woman to win the ESPN award for Best Boxer.

Talking the talk: That’s recently included comments directed at Laila Ali.

Later this week, Shields, the star of Salita Promotions, recently addressed whether they might one day be rivals with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), co-founded by Jake Paul. MVP partnered with Netflix on an all-women’s card held in front of sellout crowd of 19,729 on July 11 at Madison Square Garden.

“Hey, they got all those good girls on the roster,’’ Shields said of MVP, “but they don’t have the greatest and that’s a problem for them.’’

Of course, Shields was referring to herself, the self-described G.W.O.A.T. (Greatest Woman Of All-Time).

“I wish them well, but at the end of the day, I’ve always been a one-woman army and looks like I’m winning the war so far.’’

WASHINGTON – NCAA President Charlie Baker on Thursday, July 24 said that if the required association governance committees decide to expand the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, it is unlikely that can be accomplished for the upcoming season.

The Division I basketball committees are scheduled to meet next week, Baker said, and there have been long-running discussions – including at basketball committee meetings two weeks ago – about expanding tournaments to 72 or 76 teams, from the current 68.

Following an appearance at a National Press Club Headliners Breakfast, Baker was asked about doubts that, at this point, that a tournament expansion could occur this season.

“I think that’s a reasonable statement,” Baker said in reference to the difficulty of having these changes go into effect for the 2025-26 season.

Asked why, he replied: “Just logistics. I mean, it’s a lot of airplanes in a very short period of time.”

The NCAA arranges travel for tournament teams, and tournament expansion would mean having to move additional teams, presumably in a more compressed timeframe than currently exists. During the event, Baker explained that the NCAA basketball tournaments must be played between the end of conference tournaments and finish by the Tuesday before The Masters golf tournament.

While showing respect for the basketball committees’ ongoing conversations and review process during the event, Baker – who played basketball at Harvard – also did not hide his feelings about tournament expansion.

Referring to the tournament fields automatically including the 32 conference champions, Baker said: “I love that. I think it’s great — and I never want that to change. But that means there’s only 36 slots left for everybody else. And in many cases there are teams that are among the 50, 60 best teams in the country … I don’t buy this argument that none of the teams that get left out on the bubble are good. It’s untrue.”

He went on to specifically cite recent examples with the St. John’s and Indiana State men’s teams being left out of the field and, after recounting each of their seasons and conference tournament play, separately said that each team “should have been in” and that when teams that are among the top 50 or so in the country are left out, “I think that sucks.”

Tournamnent expansion must be approved by not only the basketball sport committees that also serves as tournament selection panels (there is one for the men’s game and one for women’s), but also by the basketball oversight committees (again, one for each game) and by the Division I Board of Directors. Depending on how expansion would be funded, the NCAA Board of Governors also might have to approve.

Baker covered a range of other topics during the program and in an interview with a small group of reporters afterward.

He said he would be “fine” if federal legislation concerning college sports included antitrust protection for NCAA rules – making that initially would last for only two or three years before being subject to Congressional review.

Open-ended antitrust protection for the NCAA is included in a bill that was passed two U.S. House committees on July 23, setting the measure for a floor vote. Some Democrats have cited this as a reason to oppose the bill.

Baker reiterated during his appearance here that the NCAA needs some form of antitrust protection to keep from constantly facing legal challenges to rules including those related to transfers, the number of seasons for which athletes are eligible to play and academic requirements.

“It’s more about (protection) that’s defined, conditional and temporary,” Baker said. “And if they wanted to do it for two or three years and make us come back, or have us report progress, or create a mechanism for complaints … I’m fine with that. I’m not looking for a blanket, permanent exemption.”

Citing an ongoing lawsuit, Baker declined to comment on a letter from 28 state attorneys general urging the NCAA to wipe out records, awards, titles and any other recognitions transgender athletes received in women’s sports. In 2022, Penn swimmer Lia Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I title.

The recognition of that record is at issue in a lawsuit pending in Georgia, and Baker said: ‘I would defer at this point to the fact that we’re in court on these issues, and I don’t really want to get ahead of the legal process.’

The Big Ten wants to emphasize conference standings, prop of mediocre teams, and insert play-in games to the College Football Playoff process.
Big Ten’s playoff plan would devalue non-conference games rather than rectifying that soft portion of the schedule that needs boosted.
College football needs to put more value on interconference clashes. Don’t neuter high-stakes games between Power Four conferences. Emphasize them.

Tony Petitti says his preferred College Football Playoff format would make for a compelling November, and, on that point, I agree with the Big Ten commissioner.

November, though, doesn’t require a commissioner’s help. That portion of college football’s calendar already rocks, full of epic rivalries and crucial games that influence playoff qualifications and seeding.

On a wild Saturday last November, Florida upset Mississippi and Oklahoma stunned Alabama in results that altered the playoff field. That same day, Penn State barely survived Minnesota, and Arizona State wriggled past Brigham Young in a thriller with playoff stakes.

Regular-season television ratings peak in November. It’s the rest of the season that could use a boost.

That’s where Petitti’s controversial 4+4+2+2+1+3 playoff plan falls flat.

Big Ten playoff plan would devalue non-conference games

Petitti claims to want a playoff model that would improve the regular season, but his plan wouldn’t achieve that goal.

The surest way to improve the season would be to incentivizing teams to play tough non-conference games and reduce the feast of cupcake games that shackle the season’s early weeks. Petitti, though, aims to devalue non-conference games.

November would stay great in his plan, and play-in Saturday would generate buzz, but his idea to award more than 80% of the playoff bids based on conference standings and play-in games would diminish September and, to a lesser extent, even October.

“Fans will gravitate to” play-in games, Petitti said Tuesday at Big Ten media days.

At what cost?

One play-in Saturday is not worth deflating September.

If the playoff became a Petitti production based mostly on conference results, interconference games like Ohio State-Texas, LSU-Clemson and Michigan-Oklahoma would become glorified exhibitions.

Play-in Saturday could prop up average teams

Petitti admits to wanting to prolong the playoff hopes of average teams. He sees the chance for an 8-4 Big Ten team winning a play-in game and cracking the playoff as an asset, not a detriment. I see a structure that would make the season’s first two months less relevant.

I’m envisioning a scenario in which Iowa loses to Iowa State in a September non-conference matchup, and the Hawkeyes slog to 8-4 before winning a play-in game to reach the playoff, while the Cyclones go 10-2, lose a play-in game and miss the playoff.

That’s how a playoff becomes a farce.

Fortunately, Petitti’s playoff plan is going nowhere fast. He’s failed to gain support from other conferences. The playoff format for 2026 and beyond remains undecided.

Petitti would like to diminish the selection committee’s role and, as he puts it, allow playoff spots to be decided on the field and not in a boardroom. In practice, his plan not only would diminish the selection committee, but it also could dilute the influence of some November results.

Alabama, Mississippi and Miami lost to unranked opponents late last November, results that bounced them from the playoff. If Petitti’s model had been in place, the losing teams would have retained a playoff path through play-in games.

I don’t see how college football’s season improves if Syracuse upsetting Miami on the final day of November carries no weight on the playoff picture.

How to actually improve college football’s regular season

Petitti’s playoff plan would earmark four automatic bids for the Big Ten and four more for the SEC – that’s half of a 16-team field – while the Big 12 and ACC received only two automatic bids apiece.

Is it any wonder why the Big Ten hatched this plan, and the Big 12 and ACC detest it?

If Petitti wants to get serious about improving the regular season, then he’s going about this backward by focusing on conference standings and propping up mediocre teams.

Here’s how you improve the regular season: Preserve automatic bids for conference champions, but keep most of the playoff bracket open to at-large bids, and devise a system in which the playoff committee values meaningful non-conference results while evaluating bubble teams.

As it is now, Big Ten teams like Indiana and Nebraska are canceling their toughest non-conference games in favor of weaker schedules, and SEC teams cling to their Championship Subdivision games like a child hugs a security blanket. 

These gimme games bog down the schedule, particularly early in the season.

To rectify that, task the selection committee to reward teams that schedule – and win – tough non-conference games and hold accountable bubble teams that beefed up their record purely by blasting patsies.

Do this, and you’d spur more Big Ten vs. SEC games, of which there are only three this season. Likewise, only three SEC teams will play a Big 12 opponent. Generating more high-stakes non-conference clashes between Power Four opponents not only would become a boon for September audience, those games also would help the committee separate the wheat from the chaff come selection time.

Imagine if Oklahoma played Oklahoma State this October, instead of Kent State, or if Texas played Texas Tech in September, instead of Sam Houston, or if Southern California opened the season against Missouri, instead of Missouri State.

That’s how you improve the season.

College football needs a play-in Saturday in December less than it needs more significant non-conference games, some of which could restore rivalries that conference realignment interrupted.

College basketball figured this out. The NCAA men’s tournament selection committee values victories against opponents within the top quadrants and thereby rewards teams that schedule tough. Qualifying for March Madness isn’t purely an exercise of assembling a fine record. Who you played, and who you beat, matters. Teams that avoid tough games are held accountable in bubble debates.

Petitti claims he’s got college football’s regular season at heart in his playoff plan. He’s wrong. His playoff plan would diminish and neglect the non-conference portion of the schedule that needs enhancement.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.