""I'm not a big fan of automatic qualifiers," Keenum said on The Paul Finebaum Show, which was live from Mississippi State ahead of Saturday's game against Georgia. "I think the best teams ought to play in our nation's national tournament to determine who our national champion in college football is going to be and not have automatic bids. That's the position of the Southeastern Conference -- presidents and chancellors, our commissioner, and probably most of the conferences that are part of the CFP.""
"In August, ESPN reported the Big Ten's interest in an expanded field that could include 24 or 28 teams and would 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, and two bids for leagues outside the Power 4, and two at-large teams."
The Southeastern Conference favors eliminating automatic qualifiers from future College Football Playoff formats and prefers selecting the best teams at-large. A December 1 deadline approaches to decide the playoff format for 2026 and beyond. The Big Ten has supported automatic qualifiers and has proposed larger models, including 24- or 28-team fields that could eliminate conference championship games and allocate guaranteed spots to certain conferences. A 16-team proposal with the top five conference champions plus 11 at-large teams received broad support from most FBS conferences except the Big Ten. Lack of agreement between the SEC and Big Ten makes retaining the current 12-team format likely.
Read at ESPN.com
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