Legendary former Tennessee Vols football coach Phillip Fulmer isn’t on the same page as UT athletic director Danny White on a key issue that will eventually impact the program.

Last week, White made it clear that he’s in favor of a 24-team College Football Playoff.

“I’d like to see it go to 24,” said White during a Big Orange Caravan stop. “I think if you look at the percentage of the field in football, it’s significantly less than every other sport that we have. The expanded Playoff, I’ve always been an advocate for it since way before I even came to Tennessee.”

Fulmer told the Knoxville News Sentinel this week that he’s not in favor of a 24-team playoff. Instead, he prefers 12 or 16 teams.

Phillip Fulmer doesn’t want to see the College Football Playoff expand to 24 teams

“(SEC) commissioner (Greg) Sankey is pretty dead set on sticking with 16 teams (in an anticipated expansion),” said Fulmer. “I think that’s a good number. But if you go to 24, you might as well let everybody in because you’re almost taking the whole top 25. I wouldn’t like that.”

24 teams does seem like a lot. But given the newfound parity in the sport, and the volatility of rosters from year to year (thanks to the transfer portal), I can certainly understand the argument for a 24-team playoff (like it or not, college football is now a tournament sport).

Interestingly, Fulmer, who served as Tennessee’s athletic director from 2017 to 2021, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that he wasn’t for a playoff “back in the day”.

“I wasn’t for any type of playoff back in the day,” said Fulmer. “But after seeing it play out, I think it’s a really great thing. So any playoff benefits a team that loses early in the season but gets better and better.”

Fulmer must have forgotten that he actually advocated for a playoff system after winning the BCS national championship in early 1999.

“This (the BCS) is the best system anyone has come up with, but I’d still like to see a playoff,” said Fulmer in 1999 via The Washington Post. “I’d also be the first one to say I don’t have a plan to do it.”

Fulmer also said in 2013 that he was interested in being part of the CFP committee.

Opinions are all over the place on the amount of teams that should be included in the playoff. Fulmer wants 12 or 16, White wants 24, the SEC commish wants 16. Not everyone is going to be happy. Expansion, though, is coming eventually whether everyone likes it or not.