"Not Enough": Kyle Whittingham Not Happy With Current College Football Structure, Makes Demands Clear

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The 12-team CFP format is set to continue for the 2026 season. However, discussions about expanding the playoffs to either 16 or 24 teams are underway. The SEC and the Big Ten have yet to agree on the exact number. Last month, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day supported a 24-team CFP. Now, another Big Ten team, Michigan, has its head coach, Kyle Whittingham, make his preference clear.

“With the structure we have right now, 12 is not enough,” said Whittingham during his June 15 appearance on the Big Ten Footballshow, when asked about his CFP format preference. “You look at the NFL, NHL, and MLB; 50% of the teams make the playoffs. If we have 130 teams, if you count everybody, that is just not enough access. 16 or 24, 24 probably being the best solution right now to have more access for more football teams.”

The 24-team CFP format definitely increases fan engagement and gives more CFB teams an opportunity to pave their path for playoff contention. Even OSU head coach Day echoed that sentiment in a May 26 interview at the Big Ten spring meeting: “It’s certainly best for the conference and great for college football in general.”

However, Day wasn’t sure whether it would be best for his program. The 24-team format means a team like Ohio State will have to play more games to reach the national championship game.

“When there was four [teams], you just had to win two games,” said the OSU head coach. “Now there’s more games to be played, there’s a bigger pool, a bigger field. But when you take a step away from it, you’re always going to be late in the season, playing for an opportunity to be the highest seed that you can be.”

On the other hand, Michigan can benefit from expanded playoffs. Since their national championship in 2023, the Wolverines have missed out on the playoffs for two straight seasons. In Sherrone Moore’s first year as a head coach in 2024, Michigan finished 7-5 in the regular season.

In 2025, Michigan’s 9-3 record and 4th-place finish weren’t enough; three losses in a loaded Big Ten (Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon) cost them a spot. An expanded 24-team format in 2025 would have included the Wolverines.

Not everyone favors the idea. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum called it “ridiculous.” The ESPN broadcaster thinks it would ruin playoff spirit. He is particularly opposed to allowing three-loss or four-loss teams a chance in the postseason.

SEC doesn’t agree with Kyle Whittingham’s idea

The Big Ten has won both 12-team CFP championships (2024, 2025). Even then, the conference wants to expand playoffs to 24 teams. However, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t really fond of the idea.

“We’re trying to inform that with research. We’ve done that, from our perspective, with 16,” said SEC commissioner Greg Sankey at the APSE Southeast Region meeting in May 2026. “We want to understand, through some analytic support, games that matter in an expanded environment and games that might not matter.”

Ultimately, the expansion to either 16 or 24 teams will come down to whether more games generate enough revenue for conferences to eliminate their championship games. The 16-team playoffs do not cover that in the view of Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. And while Sankey continues to oppose the 24-team format, multiple SEC head coaches are coming around to support it.

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