LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Big Ten commissioner doubled down on the league's preference for multiple automatic qualifiers in the next version of the College Football Playoff on Tuesday, increasing the likelihood of a showdown with the Southeastern Conference when the format for 2026 is decided. At the league's football media days, Tony Petitti said any change that adds at-large bids and increases the discretion and role of a selection committee — a format the SEC and others have shown a preference for — “will have a difficult time getting support of the Big Ten.” Petitti also bolstered the idea of a weekend's worth of play-in games for what — under one of the best-known proposals — would be four automatic bids for the Big Ten and SEC in a 16-team playoff, even though the games could put the Big Ten's top-seeded teams in jeopardy of being shut out of the CFP. The playoff expanded to 12 teams last season.