What Matt Rhule’s 40-team College Football Playoff bracket would have looked like in 2024

At Big Ten media days last summer, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule threw his weight behind College Football Playoff expansion. He went so far as to say that four teams from the Big Ten should get in every year.

Rhule is now, jokingly, thinking bigger than just four Big Ten teams. In a recent interview with HuskerOnline, the head coach joked about moving past 12 teams in the CFP and growing to 40. The 2024 season marked the inaugural 12-team college football postseason.

“The more spots the better, man. Make that thing 40 and let’s go,” Rhule said smiling. “I think, again, you’re talking about a league that we play nine conference games where some others play eight. So I think that puts you at an automatic disadvantage.”

Jumping to 40 teams is improbable, and Rhule knows it. The CFP is currently looking into expanding to 16 teams with the possibility of straight seeding in the future. The FCS is currently operating with a 24-team postseason.

But with the offseason in college football, On3 decided to break down what a theoretical 40-team CFP bracket could look like. An expanded bracket could mean more home games, more Group of Five teams earning a berth and more upsets.

Using ESPN’s FPI rankings and with the top-eight teams receiving a bye and straight seeding, here is what a 40-team postseason would have looked like in 2024. Notably, Illinois (10-3) and Syracuse (10-3) would have been left out while Oklahoma (6-7) and Auburn (5-7) cracked the College Football Playoff field.

Here's what a hypothetical 40-team College Football Playoff would look like using last season's ESPN FPI🏆 https://t.co/q4thy75Jw0 pic.twitter.com/BZt4ZFFNB8

— On3 (@On3sports) May 21, 2025

First-round
No. 25 BYU vs. No. 40 UNLV
No. 26 Iowa State vs. No. 39 Vanderbilt
No. 27 Boise State vs. No. 38 Nebraska
No. 28 Minnesota vs. No. 37 Virginia Tech
No. 29 Michigan vs. No. 36 Baylor
No. 30 Oklahoma vs. No. 35 TCU
No. 31 Auburn vs. No. 34 Arkansas
No. 32 Tulane vs. No. 33 Kansas

Second-round
No. 1 Ohio State vs. Winner of Tulane/Kansas
No. 2 Texas vs. Winner of Auburn/Arkansas
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Winner of Oklahoma/TCU
No. 4 Alabama vs. Winner of Michigan/Baylor
No. 5 Ole Miss vs. Winner of Minnesota/Virginia Tech
No. 6 Penn State vs. Winner of Boise State/Nebraska
No. 7 Georgia vs. Winner of Iowa State/Vanderbilt
No. 8 Oregon vs. Winner of BYU/UNLV
No. 9 Tennessee vs. No. 24 Kansas State
No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 23 Colorado
No. 11 Miami vs. No. 22 Iowa
No. 12 Louisville vs. No. 21 Arizona State
No. 13 SMU vs. No. 20 Missouri
No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 19 Florida
No. 15 South Carolina vs. No. 18 LSU
No. 16 Texas A&M vs. No. 17 USC