They would have been snubbed in favor of #25 ranked Oregon even though they were ranked #8. If they allow auto-bids to conference champs then I guarantee there'll be 1 spot for highest-ranked G5 or some stipulation that gets them in if they're ranked higher than a certain point or higher than P5 auto-qualifier. Only way that doesn't happen is if they strictly go with no auto-bids and just highest 8 ranked teams.
As for 12 and 16 team options, most didn't think that was a possibility until these last couple of days when word has come out that they are strongly considering such a proposal.