Updated Nov 6, 2026, from 64 quotes by 41 people in our quotes database. Each person is placed by their most recent stated view; every quote links to its source.
The College Football Playoff is 12 teams for the 2026 season. ESPN reported Oct. 15, 2026 that the CFP is nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams starting in 2027, pending final approvals [ESPN]. ESPN later reported it had reached a handshake agreement to air the expanded playoff [ESPN]. The CFP has not announced a final decision; its Oct. 15 statement said talks with ESPN continue [College Football Playoff]. The reported plan has 19 at-large bids plus the four Power 4 champions and the top Group of 6 team, and is expected to end Power 4 conference title games [ESPN]. The deadline to approve a format change for 2027 is Dec. 1, 2026 [CBS Sports] [Sports Illustrated].
Big Ten commissioner
Drove the 24-team model; says more regular-season games will matter and the Big Ten will schedule tougher.
“More games are going to matter. The way this format works is it's got all different kinds of incentives, right? You're going to fight like crazy to be inside the top 24, and then you want to get a home game, so you're going to fight like crazy to be inside 16, and then you want to be inside eight, so you get a home game and a bye.”
“We need to play more good games. I think we've been really clear about that. We think that the season can start way better than it does. We're committed to that. If we get to a 24-team Playoff, you are going to see many more competitive games scheduled. That's my belief.”
“If you get to 24, we're going to put our money where our mouth is. We're going to do what we said, which is we're going to improve our schedules. I'm totally comfortable doing that as a commitment.”
At Big Ten media days, Petitti said an expanded playoff would make the regular season better by keeping more teams in the CFP race into November and December, while acknowledging it could eliminate conference title games.
LSU head coach
Says the SEC's nine-game schedule and unequal conferences made 24 necessary.
“I think it had to happen. You could say 12 is better, but not when you take into account the way college football is set up now. The conferences are so different, the four conferences. They are. They're different stadiums, they're different environments, they're different middle to bottom of them. So you're not playing equal schedules, they're not even close.”
“When the decision was made by the league to go to nine games, in my opinion, I thought we have to go to 24. We're going to play these nine conference games, we're going to have seasons with a lot of nine win teams that may be really good teams. So you go to 24 or else you're just going to knock out teams that might be really good.”
NCAA president
Cautiously positive: takes colleagues at their word that a bigger field means tougher scheduling.
“We'll see how it plays out, but I'm going to take the word of so many of my colleagues in the college football space, who basically said a bigger tournament means people will be willing to take more chances during the regular season with respect to how they schedule. And if they do that, you could have weekends like the one we had last week every weekend all the way through the fall, which would be pretty cool.”
College Football Playoff executive director
Supportive if the finances and media partners work out.
“We have looked at this for some time now, and a lot of thought has gone into it. And we believe that we can do this, and that it'll be good for college football. But we have to make sure that every aspect of it—to include the financials, to include the media partners that we would connect with—that that's all good, and that it's right for college football.”
“They have worked through a lot of the issues to be seriously talking about this format. So, we're more serious about it than we have been in the past. But there are still some things we have to work through.”
Big 12 commissioner
Moved from backing 16 to calling 24 "a great fit" for the Big 12.
“We're in the event business. It drives a lot of fan engagement and excitement. So, we'll see what happens in the future. But those are big moments for us.”
“I liked 16 initially. As I learned more about it, obviously, without the additional AQs, when 24 became part of the conversation, we've done our own conference due diligence around it, and we think it might be a great fit for us.”
Ohio State athletic director
Considers 24 the right number as part of fixing the calendar.
“I think really the second Monday in January should be the latest that we play college football.”
USC head coach
Said Big Ten coaches were unanimous for 24.
“I do think this playoffs is a little bit in response to how just the way conference structures have gone. I think how the conference structures are so uneven, like the Big Ten and the SEC, we're just not going to continue to let that happen.”
“Having more teams in a tournament to determine a champion is not going to make it worse.”
Ohio State head coach
Says more teams stay involved and relevant.
“It's great for college football for a lot of reasons. More teams are involved and relevant. I think it's great for fanbases, overall.”
Notre Dame head football coach
Backs 24 because it helps Notre Dame get in and stay independent.
“I'm a proponent of 24 teams because it's going to give Notre Dame football a better chance to get in the playoffs and keep our independence.”
Oregon head coach
Says new playoff games would replace lost title-game revenue.
“I think there's a revenue gap that has to be replaced if championship games end up looking a little bit different. I think there's still a lot of other things that can be changed too.”
Alabama head coach
Says more room for error keeps big nonconference games on schedules.
“That's certainly the trend right now with a lot of programs is play your three or four non-conference games that are more winnable and then, you know, stay away from the big matchups, which really enhances college football. More teams get in. You argue that there's a little but more room for error, and you know, those games (are) more likely to happen. You know, someone's going to be on the wrong end of it, and it could be two teams that are both playoff worthy, so the hit isn't quite as much.”
“I want to win an SEC championship, there's no doubt. But, I think, in the end, a national championship is still what this fan base and other fan bases all truly care about is having that chance to get in the playoffs.”
Florida State head coach
Says a wider field "can be really positive."
“But when you look at 24 teams, you got a pretty good widespread net that you're gonna get to the team that plays the best throughout that has been given an opportunity and has been able to accomplish to truly go earn a national championship. It can be really positive.”
“At the end of the day, I think it's probably for where college football is going; it's probably for the greater good of it to have a little bit more expanded pool.”
Nebraska head coach
Says 24 removes bias and offsets resource gaps.
“I also think there's a ton of inherent bias toward some teams. You say, 'Oh, that's a huge win.' And that team ends up being not that good. I think settling it on the field is the best way possible to do it.”
“And then when you say to yourself, like, that team we played had 40 percent more money than we had. Like, one or two more players — I think a 24-team playoff will kind of settle all that.”
Washington head coach
Says paying rosters requires more return than a 12-game season.
“When you're playing rosters like we're paying them, and like we're going to have to continue paying them and pay them more than what we're paying them as the years continue, there has to be some version of (return on investment) that's more than just a 12-game regular season.”
Arizona head coach
Backs the added access; says the regular season still matters.
“I think the more people that have a chance to to be involved in it, the better. I've heard a lot of detractors on like what it means for the regular season. Like to me, it doesn't change anything with the regular season. Everything's just as important in the regular season, and now more people have an opportunity to get to the postseason in that way than ever before.”
Ole Miss head coach
Says the nine-game SEC schedule made expansion necessary.
“I think once we'd gone to the nine-(game) SEC model, you know, it was going to be extremely hard if you did not expand it with the caliber of teams.”
Kentucky head coach
Calls the "games won't matter" argument "a lame take."
“Everybody says that the games aren't going to matter. I mean, like, really? I think that's a lame take, to be honest. As far as I know, every game in college football is still going to matter and these games are still going to matter.”
Former LSU and Notre Dame head coach
Says opening the field to more teams can't be bad.
“We're opening it up to more teams. I can't see how that's a bad thing. I mean, the purists want to say, 'Well, you're watering it down. You're bringing in more.' Look, the game is bigger than all of this.”
SMU head football coach
Says 24 is the way to keep big nonconference games alive.
“So I think if you create more access, and I've always said the word equitable, I don't necessarily agree with having a selection committee. I think there should be a way to earn it, but neither here nor there. You have 24 teams. You're going to have more teams now with this nine-game conference schedule, still willing to go play that big out-of-conference game because they know if they lose it, a la Texas-Ohio State last year, they're not all of a sudden behind the eight ball. They still have a chance to play their way in, and I think that's the only way we're going to keep those kinds of games around.”
Oregon State head coach
Backs 24 but wants access that doesn't just favor the SEC and Big Ten.
“Everyone has to work under the same set of rules. So let's try to make it more accessible to more people, rather than just trying to make the rich richer, and that's what it ends up boiling down to. The rich get richer, and I'm hoping that that's not the case. I hope the NCAA actually does care about student athletes, all student athletes, not just the ones in the SEC and the Big Ten.”
“I really just worry about access. When you start talking about expanding to 24 teams, and you think about the men's NCAA basketball tournament and the number of teams that get an opportunity to get involved in that tournament because they win their conference championships and things of that nature. I mean, it's special.”
Purdue head coach
Says 24 keeps more teams alive in November and brings games to campus.
“I think it keeps a lot of people alive later in the season. You dream about building a roster and a staff and an organization that are in position to play these meaningful games in November, to be able to host a game on your campus. How huge that will be for the game, for college football in totality, in my opinion.”
“In college football the last couple of years, we've changed something every year. At some point, this is going to settle and calm down, and I think this might get us a little bit closer to that for what we'll see on consecutive years.”
Former Baylor QB and Heisman winner; broadcaster
Called 24 "the right move" for the sport to survive.
“The College Football Playoff expanding to 24 teams IS THE RIGHT MOVE for College Football to survive in the current landscape.”
Former Alabama head coach; ESPN analyst
Opposes 24 teams; defends conference championship traditions and questions adding an extra round.
“There’s not 24 teams in the country that can win the National Championship.”
“Playing in the SEC Championship was a big thing to our players, it was a big thing to our fans, it was a tradition, and it was a great venue. There are only two teams that can play in the national championship, but more teams can play in those kinds of championship games.”
“There’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship. And we're going to give that up to have an extra game, where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team. I'm not a big (proponent) of it.”
“There's not 24 teams in the country that deserve to be in the playoffs. There were 12 teams last year. There were a couple of teams that got in that probably shouldn't have. I don't think there's 24 teams in the country that can win the championship.”
“First of all, you don't need a 24-team to have a 9+1, they did that in the SEC, they should've done that in all the conferences so we have more better games and people play a more equal schedule. The thing that concerns me the most about this is: how many games are too many games for college players to play? Y'know we played 15 games maybe three times, and I thought that was too many. Now you're gonna be able to play at least 17 maybe, which may be too many.”
“I would be for 16 (teams) – I think that would be a good compromise. I would be for keeping conference championship games as maybe a play-in for the 16? Which, now, you have 20 teams that have hope. But I don't think there's much support for that. I don't think anybody really likes that.”
“The bottom line is money. That's the bottom line. You explained it. Universities need it because of the way we're spending more now for players. There's still a cost to having Olympic sports, which are important, I think to be able to keep and give people opportunities to compete. And how do we do that?”
ESPN College GameDay host
Says he has been "staunchly against" expansion.
“The hope thing doesn't carry any water with me. And I've been staunchly against this. I make no secret about that. I don't think it's great for the enterprise as a whole.”
Miami head coach
"I'm not a fan"; wants titles settled on the field.
“It is not my thing. I'm not a fan. I'm personally just not for it…I love the value of the regular season. I don't want to increase the number of narratives that show up when things don't go a certain team's way. I want to eliminate the beauty pageant part of it and determine things on the field.”
Pitt head coach
Would vote it down if it ends conference title games.
“What I don't like, and I'd vote it down, when you think about it, if it's going down that path — and again, we don't get any information as head coaches — it's all about money. It doesn't matter about anything else.”
Central Michigan head coach
Calls it money-driven; warns it will split off Power Four football.
“They're going to wring this sport out for every cent they can, as long as they can, and prostitute the sport for financial gain until people stop caring.”
“If they move to this, it will separate Power Four football into its own separate thing of Division I football. I mean, whether you call everybody FBS or not, you can call them whatever you want. It's going to separate that group into a completely different league.”
Nevada head coach
Gut says it devalues the regular season.
“My gut tells me that it devalues the regular season, which is what everybody is locked into right now. Everybody's so excited about these upsets, like the BYU-UCF game. Or last week, it was BYU-Notre Dame. And Texas knocking off Ole Miss. Do those mean as much if we're going to 24?”
Texas A&M head coach
Worries rivalry week could feel like NFL Week 17.
“You just worry about where this thing could go as you see what Week 17 in the NFL is like, you would hate for that to become rivalry weekend in college football.”
ESPN College GameDay analyst; former Ohio State QB
Fears it will diminish meaningful regular-season games.
“When we went from four to 12 I think we were concerned: Is the regular season still going to still feel like it matters? Now we go from 12 to 24. My fear is I just hope it doesn't diminish those meaningful games that we get excited about like this weekend.”
1991 Heisman winner; ESPN analyst
Says it moves the sport toward an NFL-style schedule.
“But we're starting to creep towards an NFL-type schedule. Like people don't want to admit that but that's exactly where we're going. And I think they don't want to admit it because they don't want to inch towards a union. They don't want the players to unionize. But as we keep going this direction, that's what's gonna be on the table next.”
Ball State head coach
Skeptical: has little faith the people running college football will make it better.
“My mom told me not to say anything that's not going to be nice about anybody. The only thing I'll say on that is — if you look at our country right now, the two organizations that are the most dysfunctional in the entire world that are led by a lot of incompetent people who only look out for themselves is the people running college football and the United States Congress. Those are the two groups we're counting on to make this right. I don't have a lot of faith that they're going to make it any better.”
SEC commissioner
Pushed back in July; by October said the SEC has "an openness" to expansion.
“I think I've always communicated that we've never said no that won't happen, that won't be a point of support. I think there's an openness to playoff expansion on our part -- I think certainly there's an openness. Attitudes change over time and perspectives change, and so we'll see where that leads us from a final decision standpoint.”
“We've looked at it and said CFP selection decisions are negatively impacting regular-season scheduling, particularly big non-conference games. That needs to be addressed first”
“We're not interested in finding the easiest path, we are focused on finding the right path.”
Texas head coach
Likes keeping nonconference games but is "leery" of losing title games.
“What I like most about (expansion), without having really dug into it, honestly, is that we get to keep those nonconference games that I think we all really like. I know we do internally. I know our fans do.”
“How are you eligible? How are you not? Is it just the top 24? I don't know the specifics of it. I'm a little leery of not having championship games, if that's what comes out of this.”
Former Ohio State/Florida head coach; Fox Sports analyst
Warmed to a bigger playoff but opposes dropping conference title games.
“Those who say that conference championship games are not important, I will say never played in it, never coached in it, and never won a ring.”
UCF head coach
A self-described traditionalist who says 24 won't make games matter less.
“I'm kind of a traditionalist, and I grew up with it a certain way. And it's changing. We all have to get on board with that. You can't tell me that each game doesn't matter right now, and I don't think a 24-team (bracket) is going to change that.”
Clemson head football coach
Declined to restate his view; warned of unintended consequences.
“There's unintended consequences. Sometimes it just has to happen before anybody will say, well, yep, that's what we're dealing with.”
ACC commissioner
ACC title game's future depends on the decision.
“The longevity of the championship game still hangs in the balance a little bit.”
Navy athletics director
Wants Army-Navy protected and Navy playoff-eligible.
“We continue to just request that Army-Navy remain in an exclusive broadcast window, and with the hope that that's also positioned in the manner that Navy would have the ability to compete in the CFP if warranted.”
Executive director, Bowl Season
Bowls will still outnumber playoff teams.
“I would say that it's too soon to predict the number of bowl games moving forward. But I think it's safe to say that, as a complementary part of college football's postseason, there will still be more teams playing in bowl games than are participating in the playoff.”
“Even with 24 in the playoff, there's still nearly 60 deserving teams that may want a place to play. It's been proven that fans still love watching those games.”
Fox Sports analyst; former Colorado quarterback
Expects Big Ten–SEC scheduling agreements after expansion.
“There are scheduling agreements that are in place once this thing expands officially. The next thing that will happen almost immediately is we’re going to get scheduling agreements between the SEC and the Big Ten — top-end matchups, mid-tier matchups, low-end matchups — and we’re going to be expanding the valuable matchups in the non-conference, far surpassing what we have now.”
