Paul Finebaum makes prediction on if automatic qualifiers will be part of College Football Playoff expansion

The College Football Playoff is looking at potential new changes once again. Those potential changes include automatic qualifiers, which have become highly debated among fans, coaches, and administrators alike.

During a recent appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, analyst Paul Finebaum addressed automatic qualifiers. In particular, he believes that they are going to be coming if the Playoff were to expand again.

“I think it’s automatic qualifiers,” Paul Finebaum said. “And I think some of it has to do with satisfying coaches, especially in the SEC, that going to nine games is the right move.”

In essence, Finebaum believes there is going to be some desire from coaches to have automatic qualifiers, especially SEC coaches, for security. It would lock in the number of coaches who get their team to the Playoff. In a world where the SEC conference could be expanding the number of conference games they play, coaches would want that security.

“I think if you guarantee spots — I think I’ve made that pretty clear,” Finebaum said. “But I’m not a coach that the eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelfth SEC school who’s looking at another loss that probably won’t make any impact at all on getting into the CFP but could keep them out of a bowl game.”

The 2024-25 season saw the College Football Playoff expand from four schools to 12 schools. In the current model, there aren’t any set automatic qualifiers. Instead, the top five ranked conference champions get in, with the top four of those teams getting a bye. The rest of the bids are at-large bids.

In that model, there were four Big Ten teams, three SEC teams, two ACC teams, one Big 12 team, a Group of Six team, and Notre Dame, who made the Playoff. It was a model that also came with some immediate criticism for how the byes worked, giving seemingly lesser teams a bye ahead of seemingly better programs, like eventual national champion Ohio State. That’s prompted some push for more change in the system after just one year.

In an expanded 16-team bracket, it’s been proposed that the SEC and Big Ten would automatically get four schools into the Playoff. Then, the ACC and Big 12 would get two teams in. The remaining conferences would share one automatic bid, and then there’d be three at-large bids.

It’s a model that has faced much criticism. However, it still appears to be gaining momentum and could be coming regardless of those outside the SEC and the Big Ten largely pushing back against the model.

Paul Finebaum defends Big Ten, SEC right to control College Football Playoff expansion

Despite criticism, Paul Finebaum has defended the right of the Big Ten and the SEC to control College Football Playoff expansion. That’s because they’ve become the dominant conferences in the sport.

“I think conventional wisdom is the Big Ten and the SEC are driving every ship and quite frankly they ought to. They are the two most dominant entities in college football. So, I think that’s where it’s going. There’s always resistance. But I have hard time believing a lot of the ACC, the Big 12 or anyone for that matter would be opposed to it,” Finebaum previously said.

“I understand the complaints, 12 seemed at times too large last year. But if we end up going to automatic qualifiers, this makes it a little bit easier. And quite frankly, I know this is a cliché that there’s never too much football, but as long as they have a good plan, I think the public will buy in.”