Did Matt Rhule just suggest the worst CFP format ever? Or maybe he didn’t. The Nebraska head coach recently dropped a hot one-liner that instantly lit up message boards, studio sets, and college football group chats: “Make that thing 40 and let’s go.” The context? The College Football Playoff. Taken at face value, it sounds absurd. A 40-team postseason in a sport where scheduling alone sparks annual debates? Rhule surely had to be joking. But in an era where satire and sincerity blur daily, that line crossed the goal line into chaos. And some football voices didn’t find it funny at all.

The Ruffino & Joe Show took the quote and ran with it—straight into a wall of confusion. Blake Ruffino recalled the moment with head-scratching uncertainty: “Matt Rhule also said as we got done with the segment with him, why did people want to keep expanding this stupid playoff, he said, ‘Yeah, let’s expand it to 40.’ And you came in here and said, ‘That’s kind of got to be a joke, right?’ I don’t know if that’s a joke. I don’t know if Matt Rhule is joking about wanting 40 teams in a playoff.” His co-host Joe DeLeone was equally rattled.

“I was so stunned by this. You tagged me in it, and then I kind of glanced at it, I’m like, ‘Is this real?’ Read the article, tried to find what the context of this was. Didn’t really find enough to prove if this was a joke or not. It seems pretty freaking candid.” That uncertainty gave way to frustration, as the duo tried to unpack whether Matt Rhule was riffing or actually proposing a March Madness for shoulder pads. “Again, we’re making excuses,” Joe said. “Now, to be very direct, I don’t think that he literally means a 40-team playoff is the perfect format. I think he is just pushing for ridiculous expansion. Like, let’s make it playoff.”

Blake chimed back with the kicker: “Well, so he can make it.” That’s when the conversation turned from comedy to candid analysis. Joe added, “He went on to further dig into, ‘Yeah, let’s have this many slots, auto bids per conference, and then you qualify for them, and then you get into the playoff.’ That was part of his little pitch that he had going on with this.” Rhule’s reasoning didn’t sound quite as ridiculous when laid out. “The more spots, the better,” he said.

“We’re playing in a really, really tough league. We’re playing really, really good teams. And you know what? If you play in this league, you deserve a chance to get to the postseason and see what you can do.” That line says more about his worldview than the 40-team comment. Matt Rhule knows that in the Big Ten, with nine conference games and two playoff giants in Michigan and Ohio State, the margins for a third-tier team like Nebraska are razor thin. More spots mean more opportunity. More opportunity means more patience from boosters and fans while he builds the team.

The timing of his comments couldn’t be more layered. College football power brokers have quietly been meeting to discuss further playoff expansion beyond the newly adopted 12-team format. One real proposal floated includes a 14 or 16-team field, divvying up automatic bids like candy—four for the Big Ten and SEC, two apiece for the ACC and Big 12, one for the top Group of Five team, and three at-large bids. Rhule’s comments reflect that growing appetite. But even insiders who understand the value of expansion think there’s a line.

“No, we don’t need to expand this further,” one said. “You and I already had this debate on the 16-team expansion. I don’t hate it. I’m not the biggest fan of it, but anything beyond 16 creates a chaotic mess.” Whether the comment was a satire or a subtle plea, it did its job—it sparked the conversation. The irony is, maybe the most ridiculous ideas aren’t as far-fetched as we think. But 40? Come on, coach. Even the NCAA basketball tourney had the decency to stop at 68.

Still, in his right mind, why did Matt Rhule say what he said? Did we miss his point?

Matt Rhule wasn’t exactly pounding the table for a 40-team playoff, but his tongue-in-cheek comment definitely got the point across. In a conversation centered around scheduling imbalance and playoff access, Rhule used humor to highlight a serious issue: the road to the postseason isn’t paved equally across conferences.

The Big Ten plays nine conference games. The SEC? Just eight. That extra nonconference slot gives SEC teams the freedom to schedule a cupcake and stack up easier wins. Rhule wasn’t shy about calling out the discrepancy. He used the opportunity to make a broader case for fairness in how teams are evaluated for playoff berths.

“If you play in this league, you deserve a chance to get to the postseason and see what you can do,” Rhule said—and it’s hard to argue with that logic. Last season drove his point home. Indiana rolled through the regular season with just one loss—to eventual Big Ten champ Ohio State—but their playoff fate was hanging by a thread until both Ole Miss and Alabama lost late in the year. Imagine that: a near-perfect run in one of the toughest leagues in college football, and still sweating bullets.

Rhule wasn’t pushing for chaos—just equality. His “40 teams” quip? Just a mic-drop way of saying the system needs fixing.