Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham Drops Massive Prediction on Future of College Football Playoff

As college football realignment has become all too commonplace in recent years, Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham made a significant prediction for the future of the sport, particularly within the College Football Playoff.

Whittingham discussed the future of college football with columnist John Canzano , where the Utes head coach predicted a major transformation within the next two-to-four years.

He believes the sport will increasingly resemble professional leagues, potentially consolidating into one or more super conferences. Whittingham’s vision aligns with the ongoing trend of realignment and could signal even more drastic changes in the structure of college football in the near future.

“I think there is a major realignment coming and it’ll be a big one," Whittingham said. "I think it will create even more of a divide and exclusivity for the teams that are on the right side of that line. In my opinion, it’s going to look very much like an NFL minor league.”

Whittingham added that he believes the changes could occur anywhere between 20 months to four years from now.

Whittingham's prediction of college football's future involves the formation of super conferences consisting of around 40 to 60 programs from across the country that would compete in their own playoff to determine their national champion.

“The short version is super conferences. I think it’s going to boil down to 40-60, maybe, teams in the super conference,” Whittingham said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t play anybody but other super conference teams. Make that a division as far as who you play. Like I said, a full-blown playoff.”

In the model, Whittingham expects further expansion of the CFP and the potential for athletes to become employees within it.

This notion of possible athlete employment within the CFP aligns with the growing movement for players to be rewarded as college football's structure and revenue production increasingly mirrors those of professional leagues.

“I see an expansion of the playoff with that to 16 teams,” Whittingham added. “Whether or not the players will be employees officially remains to be seen but I think that’s very likely.”

With the recent reshuffling of programs throughout the nation's now-Power 4 conferences, the prospect of the college football landscape adjusting again is no longer an "if" but a "when".

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