How Year 2 of the 12-team College Football Playoff is already unfolding could make the SEC even more entrenched in its anti-automatic qualifiers stance.

It has been clear for quite some time now that the SEC isn't on board with the Big Ten's plan to move to more automatic qualifiers . While there was once some momentum that the two power conferences, which have control over the playoff's future format, could align around a model that would reward four spots to each of their conferences in a 16-team format, those days now feel like a lifetime ago.

Ahead of a Dec. 1 deadline, the CFP is expected to stick with the status quo and keep the 12-team format in 2026. Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, who leads the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, said as much Friday on t

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