Heather Dinich

Thanks for having me on!

James Franklin said this is “the best combined personnel” they’ve had at Penn State in terms of players and staff from depth, experience and talent.

“We can’t leave it up to chance with a 5+11 combo,” said Washington coach Jedd Fisch, pushing for the four automatic qualifiers.

Lanning’s expectations remain high: “Last year I felt like was our most talented team,” he said. “This year, I don’t think there’s a huge talent drop-off on our team. I just think there’s new faces people haven’t seen.”

Lotta talk about Ohio State and Penn State. I asked Oregon HC Dan Lanning about this. “I don’t mind being the silent assassin,” he said. 😏

Both Petitti and Sankey told me their working relationship- and the partnership between the two leagues - remains strong, collaborative and professional. That doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t disagree.

He said people hear “automatic qualifiers” and have a misperception that the Big Ten wants to be handed something.   “Everything we're talking about is earning it on the field,” Petitti said. “To go through that type of a gauntlet, to get to the to get the CFP, is a lot.”

I asked him why he wants to limit the Big Ten to four playoff teams when it might get more. He talked about the six teams that would be in the play-in games to determine those four teams:

Petitti is not convinced there’s a better metric to help the committee …

Petitti told me he doesn’t want a playoff format to devalue or eliminate the conference championship game.

Cignetti: “we need to take the decision-making off the committee for some degree.”

Cignetti: why shouldn’t the Big Ten have four AQs?

Petitti avoided the use of the phrase “automatic qualifiers.” Instead he said they have a “strong preference” for a system that allocates spots on conference standings and play-in games. He pushed for a better connection between the regular season and postseason.

Tony Petitti said any playoff format that increases the role of the CFP selection committee will “have a difficult time” getting the support of the Big Ten.

Jim Phillips says he has had frequent conversations with other P4 commissioners on conference scheduling. "I like where we're at with 8 games because of the type of caliber of nonconference games we're playing, but we'll adjust if we have to."

More big news coming from ACC Kickoff: Former FSU/A&M coach Jimbo Fisher is joining the ACC Network as an analyst and will be on ACC Huddle every Saturday. espn.com/college-footba…

Tuesday #MacandCube 7:30 @RoddyJones20 from @theACC Media Days! 9:00 @CFBHeather on all things CFB!! @WJOX945 joxfm.com @YouTube (Jox945tv)

AAC rebrands as 'American Conference,' adds eagle as mascot - via @ESPN App espn.com/college-sports…

"Clemson will beat LSU in the season opener and be a serious contender for the national title." —@CFBHeather

Oh hey look I’m in good company …