Just sayin': Apparently there is discussion by the B1G and SEC for both conferences to each have 4 automatic qualifiers in the CFPs starting in 2026.

Sources: SEC, Big Ten to hold second AD meeting to explore CFP format changes and more​

Is a 14-team College Football Playoff with multi-automatic qualifiers per league possible?​

The SEC and Big Ten are scheduled to hold a second joint meeting of their athletic directors next month, where conference leaders are expected to deeply explore the future of the College Football Playoff format.

The meeting — set for Feb. 19 in New Orleans — comes a week before CFP commissioners meet in Dallas to discuss the future of the playoff, its format and governance structure. Those with knowledge of the meeting spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity.

The SEC's and Big Ten’s gathering marks a second step in the budding relationship between two leagues that announced a partnership last spring. Their athletic directors met in Nashville in October, a historic event and one of the first gatherings of two major conference administrators in recent NCAA history.

The Feb. 19 meeting is expected to focus on CFP format and governance as well as the transition into a post-settlement world with athlete revenue sharing. The NCAA and power leagues’ landmark settlement of the House case is up for approval in April and implementation in July.

But perhaps the most interesting topic is the expanded playoff’s future format.

As part of an agreement struck last spring, the Big Ten and SEC believe they have authority over any change to the playoff format starting with the 2026 postseason, the first of a new six-year extension of the CFP. Changes for the 2025 playoff — unlikely at this point — require unanimity among the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director.

While executives agreed on a future revenue distribution model last spring — weighted heavily for the SEC and Big Ten — a future format was not finalized. But certain “protections” were agreed upon, including an automatic spot for the five highest-ranked conference champions; a 12- or 14-team field; and qualification guarantees for independents like Notre Dame related to their place in the rankings.

The format is a divisive topic at times.

Many expect the Big Ten — and perhaps the SEC too this time — will again propose a format that assigns multiple automatic qualifiers to single conferences.
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Big Ten and SEC Discussing Possibility of 16-Team College Football Playoff, Regular-Season Scheduling Agreement​

Last spring, during intense and, at times, heated negotiations over the future of the College Football Playoff, leaders of the Big Ten and SEC threatened to create their own postseason system if they were not granted a majority of CFP revenue and full authority over the playoff format.

In the end, executives of the 10 FBS leagues and Notre Dame signed a memorandum of understanding handing control over to college football’s two richest conferences.

Soon, they are expected to exercise that control.

Within the SEC and Big Ten, momentum is building to further expand the playoff to 14 or 16 teams, assign multiple automatic qualifiers per league — as many as four each for themselves — and finalize a scheduling arrangement together that may fetch millions in additional revenue from TV partners, sources told Yahoo Sports.

The playoff format change would clear the way for SEC administrators to, finally, make the long-discussed move to play nine regular-season conference games and would trigger, perhaps, all four power leagues to overhaul their conference championship weekend.

These ideas and concepts, previously reported by Yahoo Sports as possibilities, are now serious agenda items within the highest governing bodies of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, according to officials from each of those leagues. The 11 members of the CFP Management Committee — the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director — were contacted for this story, many of them confirming the existence of these potential ideas but declining specific comment on the matter.

Final decisions are expected in the coming weeks.

SEC and Big Ten athletic directors will meet Wednesday in New Orleans for the second time in the last five months. Big 12 athletic directors are expected to discuss the future playoff format at meetings this week, and ACC athletic directors, as well as the presidents, met last week in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The CFP Management Committee is scheduled to meet Feb. 25 in Dallas, where the SEC and Big Ten could present ideas for a future format — a consensus recommendation the two leagues may establish this week in New Orleans.

SEC's, Big Ten’s control and possible proposal​

According to most who have viewed the memorandum of understanding from last spring, the SEC and Big Ten hold sole discretion on the future CFP format starting in 2026, the beginning of the CFP’s new six-year television agreement with ESPN that runs through the 2031 playoff.....

The agreement grants the leagues decision-making powers over the format but directs them to have “meaningful consultation” and collect “input” from the other conferences before making their decision.

Leaders in each conference have spent the last several weeks evolving a format idea — multiple automatic qualifiers per league — into a more realistic proposal. The 14- or 16-team model would grant four automatic qualifiers each to the SEC and Big Ten; two each to the ACC and Big 12; and one to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. It includes one or three at-large spots, one of those intended for Notre Dame if it finishes ranked inside the top 14 — a guarantee specifically designated for the Irish that is part of the CFP memorandum.

Officials describe the 14-team format as a 4-4-2-2-1+1 model in which the top two seeds receive first-round byes. There would be no byes in a 16-team structure. In either, the CFP selection committee’s role is greatly diminished. The committee, its future — as the memorandum stipulates — also controlled by the SEC and Big Ten, would presumably seed 1 through 14 or 16 based directly on its top-25 rankings.
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The data and revenue​

The 14-team model — 4-4-2-2-1+1 — aligns mostly with conference strength over the last 11 years of the CFP’s existence, according to data compiled by Yahoo Sports.

Since the 2014 playoff, the SEC has had 52 teams ranked inside the top 14 of the CFP’s rankings heading into conference championship weekend, or about 4.7 teams per year. The Big Ten has had 51 teams (4.6). The Big 12 is next at 23 (2.1), followed by the ACC (20/1.8), Notre Dame (5/0.45) and Group of Five (3/0.27).

The data considers conference realignment shifts (ie: Oklahoma is counted toward the SEC figures, USC for the Big Ten, Stanford for the ACC, Utah for the Big 12, etc.).

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CFP executives used similar data points to establish the playoff’s new revenue distribution model that was agreed upon last spring. As part of that memorandum of understanding, the SEC and Big Ten each receive 29% of the revenue, the ACC gets 17.1% while the Big 12 receives 14.7%; the remaining amount will be distributed to Notre Dame (about 1%) and the 64 Group of Five teams (about 9%).

The new revenue distribution model shook the college athletics landscape for its disparities. In the previous revenue structure, the power conferences split evenly 80% of the CFP’s $460 million in annual revenue and the G5 received about 19%. Under the new deal, SEC and Big Ten schools will see their annual distribution triple, if not quadruple, to around $23 million (SEC) and $20 million-21 million (Big Ten)......


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