Gus Malzahn ESPN
Gus Malzahn makes an appearance on ESPN's SportsCenter in Bristol, Connecticut on Tuesday, July 21, 2015. (ESPN)
Gus Malzahn is a high school coach at heart, so expanding the playoff in college football only seems natural to him.
The Auburn coach, who said in January it "wouldn't hurt my feelings" if the playoff expanded from four to eight teams, took a stronger stance Tuesday during his stop at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn.
"Our league needs eight teams," Malzahn said, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "That'll all but guarantee we'll get two teams [in]."
Malzahn was specifically propping up the SEC, which routinely sent two teams to the BCS before the playoff started last season. Alabama, the SEC champion, advanced to the four-team playoff last season and lost to eventual champion Ohio State in a semifinal.
He believes the SEC is at a disadvantage because of conferences like the Big 12, which does not have a conference championship game.
Malzahn is not the only coach who wants to see eight teams in the playoff. Division rival Arkansas is up for expansion, too.
"Expanding the playoffs to more than four teams is paramount," Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said, according to ESPN's Alex Scarborough. "You're not getting the best possible pool."
A reporter, citing Malzahn's support of the SEC's tough schedule wearing down teams and the need to get more teams in the playoff, countered with a similar belief among teams in the Pac-12 South.
"Tell 'em to come over," Malzahn said.