The College Football Playoff has only just expanded to 12 teams for the 2024 season. Two seasons later, the sport is now debating whether the new number should be 16 or 24. As far as opinions go, there’s a big rift between the two national championship rivals. Miami’s Mario Cristobal is totally against the 24-team playoff format. But Indiana’s Curt Cignetti is sticking with the opposite. 

“I don’t direct my attention on anything that I really have no control of,” Curt Cignetti told the media, making his stance clear on the push for expansion. “Tony [Petitti] is a big proponent of 24. I support Tony. He’s done a great job with our conference moving forward. We continue to expand and get better. And so whatever it is, it is.”

Cignetti sounded like a coach who has made peace with whatever comes next. That makes Cignetti sound calm and firm, even as Cristobal is warning that too much access could drain the regular season of its bite. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has become one of the loudest voices behind the 24-team model. The reason B1G wants this is that more playoff spots mean more TV inventory and more control for the sport’s biggest conferences. The SEC, meanwhile, has leaned more toward a 16-team format because too much expansion risks turning the regular season irrelevant.

That’s where the disagreement stems from. For decades, Saturdays carried consequences as one loss could destroy a season. The fear among traditionalists is if 24 teams get in, what exactly are teams risking in October? Still, Curt Cignetti has consistently backed the 24-team expansion. 

Back in February, while speaking publicly about the playoffs’ future, Curt Cignetti echoed the same belief.

“I know we’re going to go through a change here at some point and time,” he told Greg McElroy on his podcast. “It’s a great system; the more teams you can get involved, the better, within reason. Being that I’m a part of the Big Ten Conference, I have a lot of respect for Tony Petitti, and he supports a 24-team Playoff, (so) I’m going to follow the company line there. But I do think more than 12 would not be a bad thing.”

And now the Big Ten vision is winning other conferences, too. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark also backed the movement, while the American Football Coaches Association recently recommended leaders pursue the “maximum number of participants.” Even the ACC is buying into the 24-team vision, with support coming from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips this week. 

“When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number of teams in it,” he said.

But not everybody in the ACC has the same opinion. And this is where Mario Cristobal’s concerns come in. 

Mario Cristobal sees danger with 24-team format 

Even with the White House hinting at the 24-team interest, Mario Cristobal isn’t buying the idea that bigger means better. Appearing on This is Football with Kevin Clark, the Hurricanes head coach explained why he believes a 24-team playoff could destroy the sport’s regular-season value.

“So yeah, just move everything up, that’s all,” he said. “I have one bye week, and let’s roll. I’m not for the 24 thing. I think that’s just a lot. Like, why play a regular season then, you know?”

Cristobal, though, sees a different picture. To him, a bigger playoff could water down the pressure that makes college football special. The worry is plain: if almost everyone gets a ticket, then September and October stop feeling like survival football. He is asking the same question that many critics of the 24-team plan are asking. Why play a high-stakes regular season if nearly everybody gets a postseason opportunity? Mario Cristobal also pushed back against the idea of automatic qualifiers.

“And I’m certainly not for automatic, like, hey, this conference, guys are, like, why?” he added. “It’s not a beauty pageant, okay? It’s not a beauty contest. It’s competition. Go win. Go win on the field.”

That frustration makes sense considering Miami’s recent playoff experience. The Hurricanes had to listen to criticism after getting ahead of Notre Dame to get a CFP berth as the ACC representative. Miami’s playoff run also sharpened Cristobal’s view of how much should be at stake in the regular season.

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg has backed Mario Cristobal’s stance. 

“If we live in a world where Ohio State and Michigan rest their starters for that game at the end of the season,” he said, “because they’ve got the potential of five playoff games still sitting in front of them, then college football, as we have known it, ceases to exist.”

So the split is not just about numbers. It is about what college football should reward first: a long grind or wider access. If the playoffs are guaranteed, why put as much effort into regular games? That’s the fear. The 12-team CFP is already locked in for 2026, but what happens after that remains unsettled.