Who Michigan Football Would've Played in Big Ten's Proposed 24-Team CFP Model

The Big Ten is clamoring for a 24-team College Football Playoff. If that was in effect this past season, here is who the Wolverines would've played.

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If you enjoyed the old BCS model where there were just two teams vying for a national title, or even if you felt like four teams was a good number — you're not going to like what the Big Ten is trying to get done.

The College Football Playoff moved to 12 teams for the 2024 football season, but it sounds like the CFP will be expanding once again. If the Big Ten Conference gets its way, it will be a 24-team playoff.

Recently, the Big Ten proposed a 24-team playoff, but it wouldn't come until 2029. First, the CFP would expand to 16 teams for the 2027 and 2028 seasons before moving to the 24-team playoff in '29 — more on that later.

In the document, it showed a diagram of what the playoff would have looked like this past season using the end-of-the-season rankings. The Michigan Wolverines would have drawn an 18 seed and would have gone to play Utah — hello, Kyle Whittingham. The winner of that game would then go to Columbus in Round 2 to face Ohio State.

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ironically, the Wolverines would be facing their new football coach and would have to head to Salt Lake to take on Utah. In this scenario, the Wolverines would likely still have fired Sherrone Moore and Biff Poggi would be leading the Maize and Blue in the CFP.

In this model, seven SEC teams, six Big Ten teams, five Big 12 teams, three ACC teams, and three Group of Six/Notre Dame would get into the playoff.

NEW: An internal Big Ten document explores a 24-team College Football Playoff. It offers a peek at what that model could look like, as another off-season of CFP discussion is set to unfold. Details here: https://t.co/on2sqej1H8 pic.twitter.com/j6twmdqyFp

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 13, 2026

More on the Big Ten's proposed model

The SEC has been beating on the doorstep to move to 16 teams. While the Big Ten is ok with that idea, it will only sign off if the playoff moves to 24 teams at some point — hence 2029.

The document indicates a move to 24 for "no later than the 2029 season," which would then run through the end of the current CFP contract, which goes through 2031. From there, there would be a new television contract and further flexibility to change.

In the proposed 16-team format, there would be five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams. The top two teams would get byes, and the opening games -- No. 16 vs. No. 13 and No. 14 vs. No. 15 -- would be played on the second weekend in December.

The 24-team format would consist of the 23 best teams and one spot for the Group of 6. There would be no automatic qualifiers, which had been a point of emphasis for the Big Ten in CFP discussions last year. The Conference Championship Games would also be removed.

In this proposed 24-team model, the preference is that no regular-season rematches would be permitted in the first round, but games between league foes could be played if they didn't meet in the regular season.

With the full offseason quickly approaching, don't be shocked to hear more and more about an expansion in the coming months.