On Sunday evening, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger dropped a bombshell report on the future of the College Football Playoff and what it might mean for the future of the sport.
Among the bevy of proposed changes that are likely to come to pass—such as further CFP expansion and an overhaul to Conference Championship Weekend—is the introduction of multiple automatic bids for each Power Four Conference.
However, the new model would give both the Big Ten and SEC double the auto-bids of the Big 12 and ACC. In a proposed 14-team model, it would look like this:
Proposed 4-4-2-2-1+1 CFP Model
- SEC (4 Auto-Bids)
- Big Ten (4 Auto-Bids)
- Big 12 (2 Auto-Bids)
- ACC (2 Auto-Bids)
- Group of Five (1 Auto-Bid)
- 1 At-Large Bid
- First-Round Bye for Top Two Overall Seeds
In a vacuum, two auto bids for the Big 12 is a win. But if it comes at the cost of more than half of the CFP field being guaranteed to Big Ten and SEC teams, is it really worth it?
According to Dellenger, several Big 12 and ACC administrators are not in support of a format with so many automatic bids going to the SEC and Big Ten.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told Dellenger that he’s been exploring “predictive analysis” on what different playoff models would mean for conference participation if applied to recent playoff formats, adding he’ll be, “armed with data.”
ACC Commissioner recently told Yahoo Sports that he’s not set on how he thinks the playoff format should look, but “there needs to be fairness and access to the championship,” he said. “It needs to be a true championship, not artificial and not an invitational.”
Unfortunately for those opposed to the idea, change is coming, and it’s coming fast.
There’s not likely to be anything different about the 2025-26 College Football Playoff, as it falls under the original CFP contract. But, in 2026, anything is fair game.
