Nebraska’s Rhule: Big 10 should have 4 CFP teams

• Heather Dinich, ESPN Elder WriterJul 24, 2024, 01:43 PM ET

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  • College football press reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

INDIANAPOLIS– Nebraska coach Matt Rhule stated the Big 10 ought to have 4 teams in the 12-team College Football Playoff every year since of how difficult the league will be with the additions of USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon.The 18-team

Big Ten will play a nine-game conference schedule without departments, and the 5 highest-ranked conference champions will earn an area in the playoff together with the next 7 highest-ranked groups.

“In the Big Ten we have to go to another person’s stadium in our league five times and fight,” Rhule said. “But I think we’ll have a great deal of access to the College Football Playoff. I believe four teams from this league should get in every year because this is the best league. This is the NFL of college football in my mind.

“That’s not to reduce any other league,” he said. “The SEC is incredible. These other leagues are excellent, however the obstacle in the Big 10 is going to be truly challenging.”

Rhule, speaking to press reporters on Wednesday at Big 10 media day at Lucas Oil Arena, will deal with UCLA and travel to USC in back-to-backs weeks in November. He joked that had their sport administrator informed him he was going to add USC and UCLA to the nonconference schedule in the past, he would have “thrown a fit.”

“I’m not playing those guys!” he stated, laughing. “Well, here they are.”

Rhule spoke about a newfound confidence at Nebraska that suggests the once-storied program is on the brink of considerable improvement, however he likewise acknowledged it comes at a time when the Big 10 simply became more difficult. The Huskers ended up under.500 for the seventh straight season, but 5 of those losses were by 7 points or less.

“I believe you can inform when a group is ready to make the turn from their body language and the manner in which they walk around the building,” he said. “When I walk through our locker rooms and I stroll through our weight spaces and when I abandon our field, I see a group that understands that games are going to come down to the last seconds, and the narrative about close losses, you turn that into close wins.”