Mark Keenum, the president of Mississippi State University and chair of the College Football Playoff (CFP) board of managers, shared his views on the playoff”s future during an interview with ESPN”s Paul Finebaum. He stated that the Southeastern Conference (SEC) would prefer to eliminate automatic bids in upcoming playoff formats.
Keenum”s comments were made on a Friday, just weeks ahead of the CFP”s December 1 deadline for determining any changes to the playoff format for the 2026 season and beyond. He expressed his stance clearly on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” which aired live from Mississippi State in anticipation of the game against Georgia. “I”m not a big fan of automatic qualifiers,” he remarked. “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.”
The discussion around the playoff format has intensified, especially with the possibility of expanding beyond the current 12-team setup. For any expansion to occur, the Big Ten and SEC need to reach an agreement regarding the structure, as both conferences hold significant influence from previous negotiations. However, there has been no consensus yet between Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
Following the SEC”s spring meetings in May, a 16-team model was proposed, which would include the top five conference champions and 11 at-large teams. This proposal received backing from all FBS conferences except the Big Ten, which has remained firm in its support for automatic qualifiers. In August, reports indicated that the Big Ten was exploring an expanded field that could feature as many as 24 or 28 teams, potentially eliminating conference championship games. This model might allocate seven guaranteed spots for both the Big Ten and SEC, while providing five spots each for the ACC and Big 12, along with two bids for leagues outside the Power 4 and two at-large teams.
However, skepticism persists among several sources within the CFP regarding whether Sankey and Petitti can reach an agreement on a new format. As a result, it appears likely that the current 12-team playoff format will remain in place for at least another season. “We”re still negotiating,” Keenum told Finebaum. “We have to make a decision before the end of this month if we”re going to expand to 16 next year. … I”ll be honest, I”m not very optimistic that we”ll get to that, but we”ll keep working on it.”
