The College Football Playoff is once again the most heated topic in all of college football. That is always the case during the season when everyone debates who should and shouldn't make the playoff, but this offseason the heated debates have surrounded potential expansion.
That's right, after just two years there is a large contingent of folks that want the playoff to expand again. This includes Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and the entire Big Ten who are lobbying for 24 teams to make the playoff.
It sometimes seems like only a matter of time until the playoff does expand again, but if more people like Kirby Smart speak out against it then maybe fans will get their wish and it will stay at 12 teams.
Kirby Smart on the 24-team playoff push: "Some conferences are looking for inventory. They don't have the premier matchups we do."
— DawgNation (@DawgNation) March 3, 2026
He's not wrong. The SEC regular season is the product. A bloated bracket doesn't help that — it just bails out everyone else. #DawgNationDaily pic.twitter.com/BSiZj5uo3T
Kirby Smart voices serious concern with CFP expansion
Smart's main reason why he is against expansion is because he feels there isn't a need for more marquee games. The SEC, as he points out, has multiple huge matchups every week, and that will only increase as they begin playing nine conference games this fall.
So why do they need to expand the playoff when there are already a surplus of big games?
People like Heupel want it to expand so they actually have a chance to make the playoff for once. He may not have said that exactly, but it's clear that is his motivation. Then there is the Big Ten who has won the playoff the last three years. They clearly don't need it to expand to win, but they are being greedy in hopes of making more money.
But Smart is against expansion because he still wants the regular season to matter. If more teams get in the playoff then it will be okay to lose three or four games during the regular season. That ruins what has made college football so great. The regular season has always been so important, but if teams can make it in the playoff with an 8-4 record then the importance of the regular season will go out the window.
Smart unfortunately doesn't get to make the final decision on this matter, but hopefully those that do will actually listen to him.