Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti recently sat down with ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg to discuss the latest round of conference realignment. During that interview, Petitti claimed the B1G had not been focused on additional expansion for much of the summer.

According to Petitti, the league was focused on integrating USC and UCLA in 2024 without additional expansion. However, that changed when Colorado bolted the Pac-12 for the Big 12, a move that led to “inbound interest” from Oregon and Washington to join the B1G.

In the end, the Aug. 4 vote to add the two programs was unanimous per Petitti:

“Oregon and Washington, they had, really, intent; they were working hard to make it an option for them,” Petitti said in his first extensive comments about the expansion additions. “They really, really wanted to be in the Big Ten. We felt that throughout the whole process.”

Throughout the process, Petitti said the rest of the B1G programs expressed “receptivity.” The benefits of having additional West Coast programs on the schedule for USC and UCLA also factored into the decision.

Moving forward, the B1G is currently not looking at further expansion past 18 members.

“We all felt that whatever aspect we looked at, it made us better,” Petitti said. “It just became that process of trying to figure out how. My job is to make sure the conference is as great in the future as it is today. There are opportunities to protect that and make sure that we are going to get better.”