The College Football Playoff is undergoing a bit of a makeover this upcoming season.
The College Football Management Committee, comprised of the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, unanimously voted to adopt a straight-seeding model for the 2025 playoff during a phone call conducted Thursday afternoon.
According to the announcement, the new policy guarantees the five highest-ranked conference champions a berth in the Playoff but will no longer include a bye for the four highest-ranked champions. Instead, the 12-team bracket will now be seeded based off the final CFP rankings, with the four-highest ranked teams receiving a first-round bye.
“After evaluating the first year of the 12-team Playoff, the CFP Management Committee felt it was in the best interest of the game to make this adjustment,” said Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. “This change will continue to allow guaranteed access to the Playoff by rewarding teams for winning their conference championship, but it will also allow us to construct a postseason bracket that recognizes the best performance on the field during the entire regular season.”
This marks a deviation from the 12-team format used last season, which awarded the top four seeds and a first-round bye to the highest-ranked conference champions in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Those four seeds were given last year to Oregon (No. 1 seed, No. 1 in final rankings) of the Big Ten, Georgia (2, 3) of the SEC, Boise State (3, 8) and Arizona State (4, 14). Each of those teams failed to win a game in the playoff and fell to lower-seeded teams that played in round No. 1.
To compensate for the change, the CFP will continue distributing $8 million to the top four-highest ranked conference champions, even if those teams are not ranked within the top four, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.
If the current changed policy was implemented last year, the seeds would’ve been given, in order, to No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Indiana, No. 9 Boise State, No. 10 SMU, No. 11 Arizona State and No. 12 Clemson.
Ohio State would have matched up with No. 11 seed Arizona State in the first round in this scenario, followed by tilts with Texas, Penn State and Oregon assuming they each advanced past their lower-seeded opponents.
This marks the first of many potential changes that could be made to the College Football Playoff format in upcoming years. The Big Ten and SEC are also reportedly pushing hard for an expanded 16-team playoff that would give both conferences four automatic qualifiers compared to two each for the ACC and Big 12.
Dellenger reported that that proposed model is “gaining steam” among Big Ten and SEC meeting rooms, while Big 12 and ACC officials are offering alternate models, including one that would give three automatic bids to those two conferences.
The CFP said in their announcement that “all other operational policies will remain the same for the 2025-26 season,” including:
- The ranking of the teams will continue to be done by a selection committee.
- The teams ranked Nos. 5-12 will play in the CFP First Round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.).
- The four highest-ranked teams will be assigned to Playoff Quarterfinals bowls on Selection Day in ranking order and in consideration of current contract bowl relationships (for example: if the highest-ranked team is from the Big Ten, that team would be assigned to the Rose Bowl Game).
- The No. 1 seed would receive preferential placement based on geography for the Playoff Semifinal site assignment.
