Greg McElroy shreds the idea of automatic qualifier spots for SEC, Big Ten

Greg McElroy is not at all in favor of automatic qualifiers being part of the College Football Playoff.

In discussing the playoff negotiations on ‘Always College Football’ on Wednesday. McElroy was against that point about conferences earning berths through those qualifiers. He likened them to participation trophies as it would allow a team who didn’t finish right at the top of their league to just be in and play for a national title as part of the CFP.

“Now, now it’s time for me to tell you how I feel, okay,” said McElroy.

“I personally hate the idea of automatic qualifiers. I don’t like ’em. I don’t like turning into a participation world where we have, ‘You know what, guys, all we got to do this year? Finish fourth! We finished fourth. We’re in the dance! Let’s do it!’” McElroy said sarcastically. “I don’t like that idea. I don’t like rewarding mediocrity. I don’t like giving teams access that had lost a quarter of their games in the regular season. It doesn’t do much for me. It’s never done much for me…But, like I said off the top? I don’t like the idea of fourteen spots being given out of the sixteen available spots with two teams that finished, in some cases, fourth in their league – not good with that, never going to be good with that.”

McElroy did think there was a way for them to work in the system. It would just also require to get rid of another part of its postseason by completely removing conference championships as we know them.

“If we want to use automatic qualifiers, there is a way to make it work but what we must do before we get to that point is completely abolish what we’re doing with conference championship games,” added McElroy. “They have to go away. If we’re using automatic qualifiers, conference championships need to be gone. But there is a way to incorporate conference championships into the playoff.

Again, this has all been at the center of a big debate over this past week.

With reports of playoff expansion from twelve to fourteen for now as well as a push for straight seeding, there would also be a focus on automatic qualifiers as part of that field. The SEC and Big Ten, who would be leading this effort, would get four apiece while the ACC and Big 12 would get a pair plus the highest-rated champion out of the Group of Five. From there, the remaining spots would go to at-larges.

However, McElroy’s point, as is much of the sport’s, is about the four for the SEC and the Big Ten. It would allow for teams not even within a win or two of being atop the standings in their own conferences to eventually get into the playoff.

More debates will come about these issues ahead of the CFP in 2025 and certainly so ahead of 2026. Still, as for McElroy, he isn’t for qualifiers in the playoff as presented this week.

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