Ryan Day calls for automatic qualifiers to College Football Playoff, explains impact on scheduling

When Ohio State begins its quest to defend its national championship in 2025, it will do so against a team that made the College Football Playoff semifinals. Texas will make the trip to Columbus to start the season, putting two of the big-time programs – from two of the top conferences – against each other.

Both Ryan Day and Steve Sarkisian have spoken about the importance of the Big Ten vs. SEC matchup to start the year. But as the two conferences discuss future CFP entry with automatic qualifiers, Day said that’s a way to ensure more of those games take place down the road.

Day, speaking with Colin Cowherd on The Herd, said automatic bids for the Big Ten and SEC would allow for more big brands to go against each other. Strength of schedule was a key discussion point in the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff, and Day argued automatic bids for those conferences could alleviate some concern about missing the field with a loss.

“I think a couple things,” Day said. “I think one, it allows you an opportunity to figure out where you’re at early in the season. But I think it’s important, moving forward with the playoff system, that like in the Big Ten and the SEC, as we start to work through this, that we do get automatic qualifiers and a certain amount of automatic qualifiers. If we don’t, then you’re never going to see these games scheduled. … So I think that’s critical.

“If we want these games – which I think we should have these games – we need to make sure that that happens. Because I think it’s really, really good for college football.”

How automatic qualifiers fit into CFP discussions

Conversations about potential changes to the College Football Playoff picked up steam this offseason, notably after the Big Ten and SEC met in New Orleans last month. The two sides are leading the charge when it comes to the future of the CFP, and Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported they control the power over future expansion.

One of the Big Ten and SEC’s reported ideas includes automatic bids in the field for both conferences. CFP executive director Rich Clark told reporters Feb. 25 no such proposal was made for the 2026 season, but automatic qualifiers came up during the discussion.

Any potential changes to the College Football Playoff for the 2025-26 season have to be unanimous. That marks the final year of the CFP’s media deal with ESPN before an extension begins.

Ryan Day is the latest coach to endorse such a change. One of his biggest rivals, Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, also did so while speaking with On3’s Pete Nakos.

“I think our conference and the SEC, for sure, should have automatic qualifiers,” Moore said. “You can just look at the strength of schedules, the week-to-week and the games. You feel like you’re in the NFL sometimes, where every week is a battle. Doesn’t matter who you play; every week is a battle. Absolutely, that should be the case.”

Anticipation building for Ohio State vs. Texas

In the meantime, though, Ryan Day is getting ready for one of the highest-profile games of the 2025 season. The game is generating buzz for multiple reasons.

For starters, it will be Ohio State’s first game since beating Notre Dame for a national championship. But it will also mark the start of a new era for Texas as Arch Manning officially takes over as the Longhorns’ starting quarterback.

As for whether he’s “losing sleep,” Day summed it up perfectly while speaking with Cowherd. He’s already counting down.

“I think it’s 173 days from today,” Day said with a smile. “So to say I’m gonna lose some sleep, yeah, I’m gonna lose some sleep.”