Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Wednesday that changes could be coming to the College Football Playoff format as soon as this upcoming season.
Leaders from the SEC and Big Ten are pushing for a seeding change in the 2025 CFP so that the seeding would align directly with the selection committee’s rankings. This would eliminate the first-round byes and top four seeds that are given to the four highest-ranked conference champions.
Given the fact that the Big 12 and ACC champions in 2024, Arizona State and Clemson, and the highest-ranked Group of Five champion Boise State weren’t close to a top four ranking, the SEC and Big Ten will be met with pushback. Any change to the 2025 CFP requires unanimity from the 10 FBS leagues and Notre Dame, as it is the last year of the original CFP television contract with ESPN, Dellenger wrote.
Quotes from Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips and Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez indicate the SEC and Big Ten will indeed be met with serious pushback.
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“I do not have the appetite to give up any financial reward that comes with a bye,” Yormark said last month, as the team that automatically advances to the quarterfinals receives an $8 million reward.
“It’s not as if this system is so foreign,” Phillips said, referring to other leagues like the NFL that award automatic byes and bids. “This shouldn’t be used as a convenient rationale. It deserves a review and we should talk about how it went. But it’s not some exotic structure.”
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Nevarez added that changes after one year “seem a bit quick,” as her conference’s champion, Boise State, received a first-round bye due to being one of the four highest-ranked conference champions.
While the ACC, Big 12 and Group of Five conferences can push back on the 2025 format, Yahoo Sports reported Sunday that the SEC and Big Ten gain full control of playoff format decisions starting in 2026. The two leagues have been “deeply exploring” an expanded format that gives the SEC and Big Ten as many as four automatic qualifiers.
Such a change would also incline the SEC to finally move towards a nine-game conference schedule.
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The CFP Management Committee, which includes the 10 FB conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, are meeting next week in Dallas to discuss potential changes, both in 2025 and potential long-term changes.
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