Illinois coach Bret Bielema says the College Football Playoffs should not expand to 16 teams unless the SEC plays nine league games like the Big Ten.

Bielema, speaking at an “Illini Night” in Chicago, per ESPN, said Big Ten coaches also entertained having a challenge series with the SEC.

“I don’t think there’s any way we can do a 16-tam playoff if they’re not at nine (games), Bielema said. “We voted unanimously as Big Ten coaches to stay at nine league games and actually maybe have an SEC challenge.

“I was told that they (SEC) voted unanimously to stay at eight and not play the Big Ten. But then some people pop off and say what they wanna say because they want to look a certain way.”

The ESPN FPI strength of schedule numbers look a certain way — and that indicates that the difficulty of a nine-game SEC scheduled would be far greater than a nine-game Big Ten schedule.

Fifteen of the top 16 projected most difficult schedules belong to teams in the SEC, per the ESPN metrics.

Illinois, which plays Western Illinois, Duke and Western Michigan in its non-conference games this season, has the No. 44-ranked strength of schedule.

The eight-game SEC league schedule seemed to be the sentiment of Georgia’s Kirby Smart and other coaches who spoke at the SEC spring meetings.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that if the SEC keeps an eight-game schedule for now it has a model that would enable teams to continue playing their rivalry games.

Bielema, who has also coached at Wisconsin (2006-12) and Arkansas (2013-2017), has been the Illinois head coach since December of 2020.

There has been great momentum for the College Football Playoff field to expand from 12 teams to 16 teams starting in 2026.

Much of the offseason chatter has been over how an expanded CFP field should be determined, beyond basing the selections on the rankings compiled by th 13-member CFP committee.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day has previously come out as a supporter of an “Automatic Qualifier” model which would see four teams from the Big Ten, four teams from the SEC, two teams from the ACC, two teams from the Big 12, the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion and three at-large teams make up the field.

The “5-11” model has been the other most-talked about option, with SEC coaches leaning in that direction following their annual spring meetings in Miramar Beach, Fla., in May.

That model would consist of the four power conference champions receiving automatic bids, along with the highest-ranked Group of Five champ, and then 11 at-large teams selected by order of their CFP committee-determined rank.

Bielema indicated he’s sharing his experienced opinion that all conferences should have to play nine league games for the good of college football.

“I think as I come back, especially this last three or four years at Illinois, I’m in meetings, and there’s a lot of good coaches,” he said, “but some of these guys are on the younger version of themselves, and they just don’t understand what’s coming at them.

“So I’ve really tried to stand up for the game a lot.”

The SEC has yet to announce what its league schedule model beyond the 2025 season looks like. The coaches and athletic directors are considering both eight- and nine-game models.