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Illinois Fighting Illini coach Bret Bielema isn't one to stay silent about the current state of college football.
This is especially the case when it comes to the College Football Playoff, as a potential expansion could be on the horizon in the near future. Bielema said in a new interview with On3 that he'd be fully supportive of it.
“Personally, I would love to see as many teams included as humanly possible,” Bielema said. “It can’t go to 64 — I’m not talking about that. I think somebody floated 32 last year or something like that."
Bielema said that with how close his team has come to making the College Football Playoff over the last few seasons, the more teams that have an opportunity to try to extend their season, the better.
"I do feel that if you give somebody with a pretty good football team two weeks to prepare," Bielema said. "I really learned that when I was in the NFL. When you had that two-week lead-in to the Super Bowl, it’s just a different preparation. And the equalizers become really more balanced. Anybody can get anybody.”
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Bielema has previously been vocal about the College Football Playoff's structure, even going as far as to plead his case during Illinois' eventual bowl-winning season in 2024 as it secured a Cheez-It Citrus Bowl win vs. the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Having said all that, Bielema was brutally honest about why a change to the format is better than nothing.
“I think that screams how close the window is,” Bielema said regarding last year's chaos. “That’s what I’m trying to be a proponent for — just give more teams an opportunity to get where they need to be. I don’t want to have a team that is 10-2 get eliminated.”
Bielema's team went 9-4, suffering late-season losses to the Washington Huskies and Wisconsin Badgers, which eliminated Illinois from College Football Playoff contention.
With an expanded postseason, there's a chance things look a little different in Champaign. Resetting exportations, Bielema said, is better for everyone involved.
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“The part that was overwhelming to me, over the last two months, was how much all conferences were in favor of it — and when I say that, I’m talking about football coaches,” Bielema said of the potential changes during an AFCA discussion.
Should it all come to fruition, college football will be changed forever. Whether for the better or worse, remains to be seen.
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