CHICAGO — Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti overwhelmingly embraced the on-field rivalry his conference has with the SEC, but he stopped short of committing toward breaking away from the NCAA should Congress fail to pass a Protect College Sports Act, unlike SEC counterpart Greg Sankey.

Petitti, who spoke for nearly 45 minutes Tuesday morning to open the three-day Big Ten media days event, instead focused on working with the SEC and other power conferences to provide a system more palatable to all entities, rather than striking out alone.

“Breakaway is … a word that creates a lot of emotion,” Petitti said. “I’ve never heard that anybody doesn’t want to play anybody else. We want to schedule more good games against teams that our fans expect. We’ve just got to get to a system that allows us to do that.

“I think every league is going to be in a position to say, what are we going to do that’s better than what we have now, and do we have to do it ourselves?”

At SEC media days last week in Tampa, Fla., Sankey said breakaway conversations are “real” and “I do not believe that is a leverage point.” Sankey reiterated later, like Petitti, that he prefers not to reach that point, but frustration over being unable to enforce the NCAA’s rules has bubbled over among SEC administrators. It’s similar for Big Ten brass, but the rhetoric is more measured publicly.

On major issues, Petitti said the commissioners operate in lockstep, especially when it comes to the Senate bill that could reshape the makeup of college sports. However, the two commissioners remain apart when it comes to Petitti’s plan for a 24-team College Football Playoff. Sankey prefers a 16-team postseason tournament or, at a minimum, wants more information related to revenues on eliminating conference championships to accommodate a larger CFP. Those answers should come in mid-August.

“Working with the SEC on the Playoff and working with Greg specifically, I’ve never heard him say that he won’t do the work and consider 24,” Petitti said. “He’s been public about certain preferences he has, but he’s committed himself to doing the work around all formats, and we’ve done the same thing. We have strong opinions about where the right path is.

“I think there’s been an evolution since we were here last year about how people feel about 24 at this point, and we’ve made adjustments in our league. We were focused on automatic qualifiers (in 2025). We’re not focused on that anymore.”

The Big Ten and SEC are college sports’ highest-profile leagues with each earning more than $1 billion in revenue during fiscal 2025. The Big Ten has won the past three CFP championships and owns an 8-2 postseason record against the SEC in the last two postseasons. The SEC, however, largely owned the sport before the 12-team CFP, which was implemented in 2024.

Officials and coaches from both conferences often tout their collective strength and depth, and their competitions have become legendary in every sport. League and school officials from both leagues have met twice in person and expressed interest in playing one another more frequently in the regularly season, which Petitti said “let’s just keep doing that.”

In the 2024-25 CFP semifinals, Ohio State outlasted Texas en route to the CFP championship. Last fall, the top-ranked Longhorns opened the season at No. 2 Ohio State, a game the Buckeyes won 14-7. This year, Ohio State travels to Austin, Texas. In addition, Oklahoma travels to Michigan and Mississippi State heads to Minnesota. Originally, Nebraska was set to face Tennessee, but the Cornhuskers dropped the series in order to schedule another home game.

“Our fans, I think the SEC fans, they really like the rivalry,” Petitti said. “I think it would be great if we played each other more. I think that’s from a fan perspective. Having a rivalry with the Big Ten, the SEC, is a great pair. You see the games when we play them in the CFP, we play them in the regular season, which isn’t that often right now.

“Fans really want to compete. They want to talk about which league is better.”

The Hundred women’s competition, Headingley

Sunrisers Leeds 142-4 (100 balls): Sutherland 35 (24); Villiers 1-6

Manchester Super Giants 147-6 (96 balls): Mandhana 88* (50); Baker 1-9

Manchester Super Giants won by four wickets

Scorecard. Table

Smriti Mandhana made a masterful unbeaten 88 off 50 balls as she guided Manchester Super Giants to a four-wicket win over Sunrisers Leeds which maintained their unbeaten start to The Hundred.

The India opener’s sixth half-century in the history of the tournament was her top score and included seven fours and four sixes.

Mandhana’s unflappable temperament at Headingley was the key as as the stylish left-hander skilfully paced a chase of 143 despite wickets falling around her.

It was a testament to the quality of the knock that Super Giants skipper Meg Lanning, who made 24, was the only other player into double figures.

Mandhana said the key to her innings was “just committing to the shot” and “not playing anything half-heartedly”.

“If you win matches like this, it really puts us in a good place,” she told Sky Sports.

“In franchise cricket, you have to keep your head down and keep going taking the good days with bad days.”

Mandhana had kept the Super Giants in touch with the run rate throughout their reply before she went for the jugular with 16 needed off the last 10 balls.

The 30-year-old slog-swept Jess Jonassen for six – Darcey Carter allowing the ball to go through her grasp at deep mid-wicket – before pumping the Aussie spinner down the ground and over the ropes again.

Mandhana then sealed the win in style off the first ball of the final set when she dispatched Annabel Sutherland back over her head for six.

Earlier, Sutherland had top scored for Sunrisers with a controlled 35 off 24 balls, striking four fours, in their total of 142-4.

Bryony Smith and Phoebe Litchfield also chipped in with 26 and 31 respectively while Dani Gibson gave the innings late impetus as she clubbed 18 off just six balls.

Grace Ballinger was the most economical of the Super Giants bowlers as her 20 wicketless balls cost only 17 runs.

However, spinner Sophie Ecclestone had a rare off day as her allocation went for 30, while fellow England international Ryana MacDonald-Gay went for six runs more.

The week clearly began on a lighter note for the Kettering pro, but she is deadly serious about the challenge ahead.

Were Hull to go one better than her five major runners-up finishes, she would continue a remarkable storyline of British success in this event when staged here at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

Scotland’s Catriona Matthew was champion in 2009 and nine years later England’s Georgia Hall triumphed over the famed Lancashire links.

Hull and world number five Lottie Woad are among the favourites for this, the last of the year’s five majors. Unlike Blackpool’s lottery tickets, the hope of maintaining Lytham’s habit of identifying UK champions is real.

“Frustrating, very frustrating,” Hull says of her major career to date. “I feel like people can add a bit of pressure on you sometimes as well because I am human at the end of the day.”

World number one Nelly Korda held off Hull’s charge at June’s US Open for what proved yet another near-miss in the tournaments that matter most.

Although she ultimately came up short at Riviera, the British star did hole putts on the closing holes that might have been enough for victory. They showed she has what it takes to win a major.

“If you look at the putt on 17 I had to hole and then on 18,” she recalled. “And on that 18th hole, I hit a lovely, lovely, shot into the green. It was a pitching wedge that went over 175 yards.

“It was such a good shot in, and then the chip, and then I holed the putt, so I have got grit. It was just Nelly played well that week.”

A year ago Hull shot a three-under-par final round at Royal Porthcawl to finish in a share of second place, two shots behind Miyu Yamshita.

The pain of that defeat became acute this week when Hull saw the posters depicting past champions on her way to Lytham.

“It’d just be great to think that one day when I do, if I do win the major, I will be able to sleep at night,” Hull said.

The world number seven won the Saudi Ladies International early in the year, but admits the rest of her season has been a mixed bag. Her share of second place at the US Open is the highlight to date.

Hull has battled injury niggles and admits this week will be a tough mental test despite expected fervent home support.

“You feel like you let everyone down if you don’t quite play well,” she said.

“But at the end of the day, it’s just life. You’re not going to die if you hit a bad shot. I just go out there and have fun.”