Group of 5 commissioners against granting Power 5 champs berth in CFP

Two Group of 5 commissioners are against the idea of granting the champions at all Power 5 conferences an automatic bid into the College Football Playoff.

Following an announcement that the CFP committee is considering expanding the field to 12 teams, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said the "Autonomy Five champions should annually qualify for the CFP."

Both the Sun Belt Conference and American Athletic Conference have since spoken out against the idea. Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill made a statement on Friday night.

The AAC's Mike Aresco followed suit on Saturday.

"That would be an enormous step in the wrong direction from the working group's proposal as far as I'm concerned," Aresco said to ESPN's Heather Dinich.

He added: "The top six conferences, without favor, is merit-based. It's fair. It doesn't reward privilege for privilege's sake."

The expansion proposal would have the six highest-ranked conference champions and the next six highest-ranked teams make up the CFP field.

The Pac-12 may be looking for a path to make the CFP on a more consistent basis. A Pac-12 school has been among the final four teams just twice in the seven seasons since the CFP format was adopted in 2015.