Big Ten mulling idea that would make it easier for Wisconsin Badgers to make College Football Playoff

Under the structure being considered, the Wisconsin Badgers would have qualified for the College Football Playoff in Luke Fickell's first season in 2023.

Jul 23, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

The Big Ten is interested in making it easier for teams like the Wisconsin Badgers to make the College Football Playoff.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, the conference is exploring the idea of an expanded CFP that would include 24 or 28 teams, including seven automatic bids for the Big Ten (and seven more for the SEC).

Sources: The Big Ten has begun populating an expanded College Football Playoff idea, which could include 24 or 28 teams. Just an idea at this point. pic.twitter.com/0NlTQ1BN8F

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 16, 2025

The increased number of playoff spots would come with the elimination of the conference title game, since so many teams would make the tournament anyway.

The playoff would be five rounds, so the schedule would need the extra week anyway.

Seven automatic bids for the Big Ten would mean Wisconsin would just have to finish as a Top 7 team in the conference to make the playoffs, and the Badgers could still also make it as an at-large team.

Under that structure, the team would have qualified for the playoff in 2023, Luke Fickell's first season.

Multiple 20+ team CFP models are under discussion, deriving from Big Ten, sources tell @YahooSports, as ESPN reported. They feature as many as 7 AQs for each SEC/B1G, 5 ACC/B12, 2 G6 & 2 at-large.

Discussions are *very* early. Could trigger conference title game eliminations.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 16, 2025

Critics argue it diminishes the accomplishment of making it to the postseason, and it makes regular season games mean less if more than a third of the conference will advance anyway.

Still, it could create the opportunity for more Cinderella stories, where a team overcomes some early season struggles to go on a deep playoff run.

The reports indicate this idea is in the very early stages and isn't yet being formally proposed. But it does signal what kind of path conference leaders are looking toward, which could be good news for the Badgers.

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