Big Ten AD: Automatic Byes for Big Ten, SEC in 14-Team CFP 'Not Going to Happen'

The SEC and Big Ten may be the top two conferences in college football, but that doesn't mean the leagues will receive automatic byes when the College Football Playoff eventually expands to 14 teams.

"That's not going to happen, at least as of now," a Big Ten athletic director said Thursday of the possibility, per Scott Dochterman of The Athletic.

The timing of such discussions is notable, as the college football world hasn't even seen how the new 12-team format will unfold.

A 12-team field will be in play for the 2024 and 2025 seasons after the first 10 years of the CFP featured smaller four-team fields. While the four-team fields never had automatic byes or inclusion based on conferences or league titles, the 12-team format will during the next two seasons.

The five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed a spot with the four highest-ranked ones receiving first-round byes. The next seven highest-ranked teams will make up the rest of the field.

Heather Dinich of ESPN reported Friday there has been continued support for expanding the field to 14 teams starting in the 2026 season even though it remains to be seen how those schools will qualify for the CFP.

However, Dinich noted "the proposed idea of the SEC and Big Ten champions receiving guaranteed byes is starting to lose some steam among conference commissioners following public backlash."

Chris Vannini of The Athletic reported last month that one model being discussed was a 3-3-2-2-1 format where the SEC and Big Ten would each receive three automatic spots, the Big 12 and ACC would each receive two automatic spots, and the Group of Five would receive one automatic spot with three at-large teams making up the rest of the field.

While other conferences surely don't want the Big Ten and SEC to receive too many automatic bids, the reality is the two leagues will likely receive the majority of the consideration for any at-large bids anyway.

After all, at least one of the two conferences have been represented in each of the 10 CFPs to this point. What's more, eight of the 10 national champions came from the two leagues.

And that was all before expansion that will feature powerhouse programs in Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC and Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington joining the Big Ten.