Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard shared a polarizing view on the current proposal for College Football Playoff expansion. While Shephard is in support of a 24-team playoff field, he wants the committee to take care of one thing while deciding how teams will be selected.

Shephard reflected that the CFP committee must employ a broader approach rather than favoring student-athletes from top Power Four conferences: the SEC and the Big Ten. He urged them to stay fair with the rest of the conferences.

“Everyone has to work under the same set of rules,” Shephard said in an On3 X post on Wednesday. “So, let’s try to make it more accessible to more people, rather than just trying to make the rich richer, and that’s what it ends up boiling down to. The rich get richer, and I’m hoping that that’s not the case. I hope the NCAA actually does care about student-athletes, all student-athletes, not just the ones in the SEC and the Big Ten.”

Shephard’s criticism of the Big Ten and SEC stems from those conferences’ bids for more automatic spots in the expanded playoff format. Since all the players, irrespective of conferences, play under the same set of NCAA rules, the selection process for the 24 teams must remain fair and accessible to student-athletes of every program.

“I’m hoping that with that 24-team playoff … I know that some ideas are floating around of what that should look like,” Shephard said. “‘Oh, this conference you get so many automatic bids. That conference you get that many automatic bids.’ Well, this kid, he puts on his pads just like this kid in this other conference. He has to come and work under the same rules, stipulations and things of that nature within the NCAA’s bylaws that the kid at another conference has to.”

Shephard’s comments came as Oregon State entered its open week with a 5-2 overall record and a 3-0 mark in Pac-12 play. It’s proving to be a remarkable turnaround after the Pac-12 program’s dismal 2-10 campaign last season.

Oregon State HC JaMarcus Shephard Takes March Madness Inspiration Amid 24-Team CFP Debate

While discussing the CFP expansion, JaMarcus Shephard also shed light on March Madness. Shephard asks the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to serve as a model since it is known for giving teams from smaller conferences opportunities to compete against the nation’s top programs.

That was Shephard’s point when he was talking about fairness and accessibility as priorities when deciding the selection of 24 teams.

“I really just worry about access,” Shephard said. “When you start talking about expanding to 24 teams, and you think about the men’s NCAA basketball tournament and the number of teams that get an opportunity to get involved in that tournament because they win their conference championships and things of that nature. I mean, it’s special. It’s something that when you play college basketball, you know that you have a real chance every year to be involved in that NCAA tournament.”

Shephard believes college football could benefit from a similar approach.

However, the only concern with this approach is the number of games that will be required to be played, which will be difficult for CFP teams to fit into their postseason schedule.