12 teams. The 5 highest ranked conference champions (which will by definition include a mid-major), and the 7 highest ranked remaining teams at-large. Now most years, those 7 teams SHOULD include 1-3 out of the Big 10, and the SEC gets the rest. But will politics come into play? Will they try to impose an artificial conference quota and throw an extra ACC and/or Big 12 team in there?
When I look at the SEC for next season, I see at least 6 teams capable of making the field. Maybe more depending on how LSU and OU reload. If they all play up to expectations, will they make it? Or will 1-2 of them get snubbed in favor of a middling Clemson or Texas Tech team (for example)? You know, out of "fairness".