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The Big Ten doesn't know what it is getting into. That's basically the conclusion that's been drawn from those who know Tony Petitti best. That's also a good thing.

If past is prologue, the veteran TV executive named Big Ten commissioner Wednesday is about to spring ideas on college athletics that the industry hasn't considered yet.

"Don't be surprised if Tony comes up with new events, new approaches, new schedules, just as he did when he joined me in 1997," said CBS Sports president Sean McManus. "He's going to dive into this. Nobody will ever outwork him or have more of a commitment."

Pettiti's career arc spans three decades as an TV executive at CBS, ABC and Major League Baseball. Don't think of him as the latest nontraditional commissioner hire. Given where college athletics is headed, it may be time to retire that notion. Petitti is the fourth consecutive Power Five commissioner hired without prior college administrative experience. Get used to it. Conferences are putting their money where balance sheets are.

"Obviously, [the Big Ten's] biggest investment is television, and he knows it better than any of the other commissioners," said former Big Eight/Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas, who worked with Petitti 30 years ago as head of the College Football Association. "Look at his background."

As an ABC executive, Petitti helped launch the BCS, including the first national championship game in the history of major college football. At CBS, he was integral in the network reacquiring the NFL in 1998.

Petitti helped launch the MLB Network as commissioner Rob Manfred's COO, creating the Field of Dreams Game along the way. He's also an underdog -- and not just in terms of the Big Ten search. His name wasn't one of those that emerged initially when the job came open in January.

"Tony is the proud son of a New York city policeman who ended up going to Harvard Law School," McManus added. "He has an uncanny level of first-rate education. Also, some amazing street smarts. A lot of it he learned from his dad."

In some ways, get ready for radical change. While at first blush the Big Ten's biggest issues are settled -- the addition of USC and UCLA, plus its new TV deal -- college athletics will look to Petitti and his new conference for ideas, innovation and leadership. 

"I do think the college sports people make a little too much of the athletic director [background for commissioners]," said Patrick Crakes, a media consultant and former Fox Sports senior vice president. "As somebody who managed relationships at Fox … I can tell you college campuses can have a provincial kind of view."

That provincial view has led presidents to sometimes not seeing beyond the wood paneling in their offices. Former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren was a self-described disruptor. For all the criticism Warren endured in getting the new media rights deal done, the Big Ten has never been richer. It outdistances even the SEC in revenue as what next year will be the first Power Five coast-to-coast conference. 

Now, it's Petitti's turn to run the Big Ten. He doesn't automatically become the most powerful man in college sports but certainly something close to it. He now occupies a chair once occupied by Jim Delany.

What follows is an assessment of the hire from those who know extrapolating that knowledge to possibilities for the Big Ten.

McManus: "I spent probably 12 hours a day with him, every day, trying to figure out how to bring the NFL back to CBS and how to really make CBS Sports the best in terms of production and rights acquisition. He became, and still is, my best friend in many ways. … I think the Big Ten will really flourish under his leadership. He will be creative. He will be totally inclusive and collaborative with everyone from presidents to chancellors to coaches. That's the kind of person he is. He builds consensus."

Crakes: "[Expansion is] over. Calm the hell down. It's coming, but it's a couple of years down the line. A lot of this has to do with managing what you have and getting ready for a couple of years in the future. It's time to digest some of this stuff and operate properly. I think he's got the experience and strategic vision for the future. This is about, right now, an operations execution story. After he's been running this for a while and he gets it under his belt, he'll be able to figure out strategy for the next phase, which is a couple of years away."

Tim Brando, Fox broadcaster and former CBS Sports studio host: "I do think this [hiring] is the wave of the future, and I think it has to be. As Beano Cook used to say, 'The one thing everyone has in common is the insatiable need for more money.' Tony can stand pat with that and sit and wait and allow the cards to fall however they're going to fall in the Pac-12.

"Tony's hiring, in my estimation, is a home run. No, we don't have a [college football] commissioner, yet. But here's what I'd hope to see: I would like to see that happen within the construct of Division I where we get rid of Power [Five] and Group [of Five] and we have [a commissioner]. … Let's rotate it. Let's have one voice be the spokesperson."

Brando, continued: "In Tony's case, so much is taken care of [in the Big Ten], what does he have to do? He's got plenty to do when you think about schedule changes. He's got plenty to do with the NIL situation. College football is in dire need of unification in almost every imaginable way. I used to talk all the time about how college football needs a czar. I don't think we'll actually have that, but I do think with a guy like Petitti alongside a guy like [SEC commissioner Greg] Sankey, who have to be considered the two most powerful guys in the room … [it's possible]. ... This is where a guy with a Harvard law degree can really be beneficial. If the next step of revenue beyond the NIL is a piece of the TV pie when we have a new TV contract, you need that kind of expertise as well."

Chris Bevilacqua, sports media consultant and former head of CSTV, which became CBS Sports Network: "He's got a lot of operating experience. He really knows marketing. He'll be fixated on stuff like that, I'm sure. … They need people in the whole industry thinking a little bit differently than has been the last 20-30 years. It's now time to rearchitect how all this works."

Mike Aresco, AAC commissioner: "Even though the Big Ten deal is done, there is a lot to sort out when you do a deal like that. Three major [TV] partners. You gotta keep them all happy. Scheduling issues. Tony will have significant challenges in that area. Big Ten Network, too. He has oversight as commissioner. It's a media driven world, as you know. I think it's a really outstanding hire for them. ...He's unpretentious. He's direct. He'll have a vision. He's personable."