Matt Rhule says the Big Ten should get 4 CFP teams every year: 'This is the NFL of college football'

Matt Rhule advocated for the Big Ten to receive 4 College Football Playoff berths while speaking from the podium at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.

Rhule said he believes the Big Ten is the best conference in the country after adding USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington this offseason. He spoke about the difficulty of playing 9 conference games — including 5 on the road in 2024.

“When you look at the Big Ten, playing 9 conference games,” Rhule said. “More importantly, playing 5 road conference games … In the Big Ten, we have to go into someone else’s stadium, in our league, 5 times and duke it out.”

“So I think we’ll have a lot of access to the College Football Playoff. I think 4 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. It stretches from coast-to-coast, different time zones, different weather. That’s not to diminish any other league. The SEC is amazing. These other leagues are great. But the challenge in the Big Ten is going to be really difficult. Travel, weather and great teams.”

With the College Football Playoff set to expand to 12 teams this year, there will certainly be debates about which leagues should be earning the most at-large berths. Five bids are already spoken for — they will automatically be granted to the 5 highest-ranked conference champions.

That leaves 7 at-large bids, 3 of which Rhule is claiming should go to the Big Ten. As of now, the betting markets see 3 strong favorites in the Big Ten to make the Playoff. Per FanDuel, 4 Big Ten teams are currently favored to reach the CFP: Ohio State (-650), Oregon (-290), and Penn State (-145).

Michigan is currently 12th in CFP odds at +115 to earn a spot. USC at +440 is the next closest Big Ten team to the field.

As for Nebraska, the Huskers have an uphill climb to make it back to national relevance. Nebraska hasn’t made a bowl game since the 2016 season, but is entering Year 2 of the Rhule era with plenty of optimism. Nebraska is -480 to reach 6 regular-season wins in 2024, per FanDuel.

Nebraska will open the 2024 season against UTEP on Aug. 31.