The Tennessee Volunteers did not make the College Football Playoff in 2025. Instead of following up on a strong 2024 campaign, they finished 8-5. The Volunteers got crushed by Ohio State in the first round of the 2024 CFP, which set off a lot of changes.
Since then, Josh Heupel has been feeling some heat. Volunteers fans believe they should make the College Football Playoff every single year. There has been a lot of talk about Playoff expansion, with the Big Ten and SEC having different ideas about how to go about it.
Heupel has weighed in with his opinion. He seems to favor the Big Ten’s proposal over what the SEC wants to happen.
GettyTennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel looks on. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Tennessee Volunteers Coach Josh Heupel Wants 24-Team CFP
Heupel wants a 24-team College Football Playoff. He believes that is the best way to find the national champion, given how many changes the college football world has already undergone.
“The way college football is constantly changing, that probably makes the most sense.”
The Big Ten would like a 24-team Playoff, while the SEC supports a 16-team model. There will be no changes to the CFP in 2026, and it will remain at 12 teams. The two conferences will need to come to an agreement at some point next season in order to make changes for the 2027 season.
Heupel is advocating for a 24-team CFP so that it will be easier for Tennessee to make it. Last season, the Volunteers finished 8-5, which wouldn’t have been good enough to make it even in a 24-team format. He wants it so that as many SEC teams as possible can make it.
Surprisingly, the SEC would prefer 16 teams to be the maximum number of teams that make the CFP. It’s the Big Ten that wants to have the field be as big as possible now that the conference has expanded to 18 teams.
GettyTennessee Volunteers coach Josh Heupel watches warm-ups. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Tennessee Volunteers Face an Uphill Battle to Make CFP in 2026
It’s going to be hard for Tennessee to make the College Football Playoff in 2026. The schedule is not set up for the Volunteers to make CFP next year. They take on Texas, Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M. It’s going to be hard for them to get through that four-game stretch with fewer than three losses.
Tennessee will also have a new starting quarterback after Joey Aguilar’s bid to receive another year of eligibility. The Volunteers will now have a different starting quarterback for the third time in three years. That makes it hard for them to overcome a brutal schedule.
If Heupel gets his way, there is a chance that his team could make the CFP in the future if they achieve a three-loss season. That is something that the SEC would have benefited from in each of the last two seasons if that’s how the College Football Playoff had been set up. Heupel wants to be one of those teams.
Tennessee Volunteers’ Josh Heupel Wants CFP Format Change