mississippi state Chairman Mark Keenum, chairman of the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, told ESPN’s Paul Finebaum on Friday that the SEC would prefer to “not have automatic bids” in future iterations of the playoff.
Keenum’s comments came just weeks before the CFP’s Dec. 1 deadline to determine whether the format will change for 2026 and beyond.
“I’m not a big fan of the automatic qualifier,” Keenum said on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” live from Mississippi State, before Saturday’s game against Georgia. “I think the best teams should play in our country’s national tournament to decide who will be our national champion in college football and not have an automatic bid. That is the position of the Southeastern Conference – the presidents and chancellors, our commissioners, and probably most of the conferences that are part of the CFP.”
If the playoff is going to expand beyond 12 teams, the Big Ten and SEC will have to agree on the format since they were given most of the control over it during previous contract negotiations. Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petti and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey have not reached consensus on a model. Following the SEC spring meetings in May, a 16-team model that would include the top five conference champions and 11 at-large teams received support from every FBS conference except the Big Ten, which has been steadfast in its support of the automatic qualifier.
In August, ESPN reported the Big Ten’s interest in an expanded field that could include 24 or 28 teams and eliminate conference championship games. That model could include seven guaranteed spots for both the Big Ten and SEC; five each for the ACC and Big 12; Two bids for the league outside the Power 4; And two big teams.
Many sources within the CFP have been skeptical for months that Sankey and Pettitte would agree on a format – meaning the most likely outcome would be for the current, 12-team format to remain in place for at least one more season.
“We’re still negotiating,” Keenum told Finebaum. “We have to make a decision before the end of this month if we’re going to expand to 16 next year. … I’ll be honest, I’m not very optimistic that we’ll get there, but we’ll continue to work on it.”
