Urban Meyer Explains Why He’s Warming Up To The 24-Team College Football Playoff

Sometimes less is more, but is the soon-to-be 24-team College Football Playoff – which will be implemented next season – for the better?

Urban Meyer explained why he's now on board with the 24-team playoff format on Week 11's edition of "Big Noon Kickoff."

"At first, I was opposed to it, but then you can see a lot of parity, so I'm actually in favor of it," Meyer said of the 24-team CFP format." My instant reaction is, 'You know what? It's not death if you lose.' In the BCS, you lost one time, you're out. Then, I was part of the four-team College Football Playoff. Again, one loss, usually, you're out.

"Now you're at 12 teams and soon 24. At 24 teams, you lose, keep rolling."

In the 24-team CFP, the top eight seeds will have first-round byes, with 23 at-large bids and one spot allocated to the highest-ranked Group of Six team. Power Four conference title games will be eliminated.

The 2026 season is the third year of the 12-team College Football Playoff, with the inaugural four-team CFP debuting in 2014. The BCS National Championship Game, which saw the two highest-ranked teams in the nation face off in a single title game, was the mere playoff model from 1998-2013.

Meyer coached and won championships as a head coach in both the BCS title game era (2006 and 2008 seasons with the Florida Gators) and the four-team College Football Playoff era (2014 season with the Ohio State Buckeyes). 

As for the impact one loss could previously have: Meyer's Gators entered the 2009 SEC championship game at 12-0, but a 32-13 loss to Alabama – which featured Meyer's fellow "Big Noon Kickoff" panelist and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Mark Ingram – ended Florida's BCS championship bid.