A report from ESPN confirmed Big Ten and SEC athletic directors intend to discuss a partnership in football scheduling, as well as added automatic bids in the College Football Playoff, during an in-person meeting in Nashville next week as part of the joint advisory group.
Sources indicated to Heather Dinich of ESPN that both the SEC and Big Ten would prefer four automatic bids to the playoff when the next contract begins in 2026, which would guarantee the two leagues eight of the 12 spots each season, before a single game is even played.
No one is debating the SEC and Big Ten are the two most dominant college football conferences right now, and it’s quite likely eight or more of the spots in this year’s 12-team field will go to those two leagues. Still, the idea of eight guaranteed spots for two leagues, compared to just one spot for each of the Big 12, ACC, and Group of Five (if those guarantees even stay in place) is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.
The pushback to this idea was immediate on social media, and we pulled together some of the best reactions below: