Danny White supports 24-team College Football Playoff

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The annual SEC meetings are off and running in Destin, Florida, and the headlines are plentiful in regards to the future of college football. Specifically, the future of the College Football Playoff has been in focus this week, though no consensus is expected to be reached.

Tennessee athletics director Danny White made his stance clear, however. While speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, White came out in favor of the 24-team structure.

“The percent of teams with access to postseason, I think it’s low in football,” White told reporters. “I think we need more access, I’m for that. I think there are a lot of different ways to do that. A lot of really good ideas, we’ve got smart commissioners and a bunch of people trying to figure it out.”

This all comes after a Yahoo Sports report that coaches were moving in favor of a 24-team structure. The move would also eliminate conference championships in favor of more playoff games.

Though the rest of the Power 4 commissioners have come out in support of the 24-team bracket, the SEC is much more divided. Ironing out differences there within the conference seem to be one of the final hurdles to clear before the move actually happens.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey preached patience and clearly has reservations about going to 24.

“When professional sports have added to their postseason, it’s always been a small adjustment,” Sankey said. “Four to 12 [in college] was monumental, but I think it was justifiable. You want to be careful about how far you go, and that’s understanding the competitive impacts and maybe you bring more teams into the conversation, and you make a judgment because … a game that may not have that same type of leverage, if you will, or that same type of value because both teams could be in.

“That’s minimal, but the ability to bring more teams into the conversation would have [to create] value in the regular season. Some of that you can quantify, some of that strikes me as a matter of judgment.” — ESPN

Tennessee, a team that has more or less lived on the CFP fringe since 2022, would certainly benefit from an expanded field. The Volunteers finish 6th, 17th and 9th in the final AP polls from 2022-2024. They would have entered the final week of the regular season against Vanderbilt as a bubble team in a do-or-die situation as the 19th ranked team in the country.

All that said, do we really need 24 teams? Absolutely not. The regular season would be watered down and huge traditions like conference championships could vanish forever. While I do agree that the 4-team structure was probably too exclusive, the 12-team option seems like a pretty solid compromise. To double that just seems like everyone’s chasing cash, which let’s be honest — that’s exactly what’s happening.

The deadline for a final decision comes on December 1st.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos