Report: SEC, Big Ten Would Hold Rights to 1st-Round Byes in 14-Team CFP Proposal

In one 14-team College Football Playoff proposal, the winners of the SEC and Big Ten would hold an important stature compared to the remaining 12 teams.

According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the winners of the SEC Championship and Big Ten Championship games would hold "exclusive rights" on the two first-round byes in one version of the format that circulated to several college athletic administrators.

Per Dellenger, the concept unsurprisingly received "pushback" from administrators outside of the two conferences.

The College Football Playoff will already be expanding, as the board of managers unanimously approved a 12-team format starting in the 2024 season on Feb. 20. The 12 teams will be made up of the five highest-ranked conference champions as well as the next seven highest-ranked teams that will be determined by the CFP Selection Committee.

Under this current format, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and all will receive a first-round bye. With the potential addition of two more teams in future years, it appears that the winners of the SEC and Big Ten are the favorites to automatically earn the available two byes.

The proposed model guarantees spots for ACC and Big 12 teams in a 14-team format, although they would not have access to a potential bye week.

"In a 14-team model that officials are socializing with their leagues, the Big Ten and SEC would each receive three automatic qualifiers, with the ACC and Big 12 getting two each and the Group of Five's best team qualifying as well," Dellenger wrote.

This leaves three spots up for grabs, which would be given to the highest-ranked teams that did not automatically qualify. Commissioners are expected to meet virtually in order to examine the format even further and attempt to determine the specifics of a 14-team playoff field.