Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

College Football Coach Wants Playoff To Expand To 40 Teams

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated May 21, 2025 4:34 PM ET

As the College Football Playoff organizers mull increasing the number of qualifying teams all the way form 12 to 16, one college coach believes that we should go all the way to 40.

That may have been a tongue-in-cheek take by Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule, but he might also see it as the end result of where the college football postseason is going anyway. Rhule said "the more spots, the better" and believes that some schools have built-in disadvantages due to their scheduling policies.

“The more spots the better, man. Make that thing 40 and let’s go,” Matt Rhule said in a recent interview. “I think, again, you’re talking about a league that we play nine conference games where some others play eight. So I think that puts you at an automatic disadvantage.”

Rhule reasoned that expanding the College Football Playoff as much as possible would also have benefits to the yearly scheduling. He believes that it would greatly benefit the Big Ten when their teams get to host fair-weather teams in the cold.

“I think the more spots, I think if they do go to where it’s guaranteed, hey, you get four at-large bids if you can play your way into those things, you just think about playing meaningful games in Memorial Stadium in November, December and January, where the weather starts to be a real factor,” Rhule said. “We play UCLA every year, the first thing I do is say where is it? When is it? I want it to be as cold as possible. Now they’re smart, (UCLA and USC), they play each other at the end of the year so they’re kind of protected from some cold-weather games.

LINCOLN, NE - APRIL 22: Head coach Matt Rhule of Nebraska Cornhuskers on the field before the game at Memorial Stadium on April 22, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

“But as we start thinking about the College Football Playoff, yeah, I want to play those games in the midwest, in the northeast, in the north. I want to play them in cold areas to help the Big Ten.”

40 may be a little too much for the College Football Playoff to handle. It is for now, at any rate.

But Rhule might not be far off from where the organizers ultimately want the product to go.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: