Mandel: SEC going to 9 games staves off potential disaster: The Big Ten’s Playoff plan

The SEC finally going to nine conference games is great for the fans, for the sport and for ESPN’s ratings. It could also help stave off a potential disaster. It could be the thing that gets Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti to back off his harebrained Playoff proposals. At Big Ten Media Days last month, one coach after another complained about having to play an additional conference game and the supposed disadvantage it causes them with the selection committee. (Conveniently ignoring that their league got more berths than the SEC last season.) They as well as Petitti himself used that...