How the 2024 College Football Playoff would have looked with 2025's seeding rules
How the 2024 College Football Playoff would have looked with 2025's seeding rules
The 12-team College Football Playoff only made it one season before its first major change. In 2024, you needed to win your conference to be considered for a top four seed and one of the coveted byes to the national quarterfinals. In 2025, taking home the Big 12 or Mountain West crown may no longer skip you past the on-campus round of preliminary games.
The CFP's 2024 format included automatic bids for four of the season's five conference champions -- the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC along with the highest-ranked champion from the five other FBS conferences. These winners will still be invited to the tournament, but no longer assured an 80 percent chance at a pass through the first round. Instead, those byes will be awarded to the selection committee's top four teams regardless of whether or not they won their conference championship game.
That means Boise State's bye to the Fiesta Bowl and Arizona State's spot in the Peach Bowl wouldn't have happened last winter. Instead, the 2024 College Football Playoff would have looked like this:
Byes:
No. 1 Oregon
No. 2 Georgia
No. 3 Texas
No. 4 Penn State
First round:
No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Notre Dame
No. 11 Arizona State at No. 6 Ohio State
No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Tennessee
No. 9 Boise State at No. 8 Indiana
Importantly, this new format means FBS independent Notre Dame now has a path to a first round bye. This change, enacted via unanimous vote, will begin in 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
CBS Sports decides what Clemson football must do to be successful in 2025
CBS Sports decides what Clemson football must do to be successful in 2025 The start of the 2025 college football season is 79 days away -- and 86 days until the Clemson Tigers host LSU in Death Valley at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 30. As we count down the days until then, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is holding his annual summer camp, offensive line coach Matt Luke is busy lighting things up on the recruiting trail with the 2026 signing class, and the Tigers have landed their first official commitment for 2027. All great news, but what about the 2025 season? Clemson has a stacked roster that is looking to build off a 10-win campaign that included an ACC championship and a trip to the College Football Playoff. The biggest concern the Tigers have is not at quarterback; not after Cade Klubnik's meteoric rise in 2024 (3,639 passing yards, 36 TDs, six INTs). It's not at wide receiver, either. The Tigers have bonafide studs in senior Antonio Williams, plus young sensations Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore at the position. The defense is anchored up front by linemen T.J. Parker and Peter Woods, and Avieon Terrell shores things up in the secondary. The consensus is that the Tigers' biggest question mark heading into the 2025 season is at running back, where they'll have to replace senior Phil Mafah. On Thursday, CBS Sports' Brad Crawford wrote about one area every team in his post-spring top 25 must address to be successful in 2025. For Clemson, it's finding comfort in the run game. Crawford said: "Find comfort in run game: Tabbed by a few to be college football's top team this fall, Clemson is loaded on both sides with perhaps its best roster since Dabo Swinney's last national championship team. That said, the Tigers are inexperienced in the backfield with freshman Gideon Davidson, third-year sophomore Jay Haynes and redshirt freshman David Eziomume expected to share the load at running back after Phil Mafah's departure. This will be a pass-happy team with Cade Klubnik, but offensive coordinator Garrett Riley needs to be able to breathe easy in short-yardage situations, too." Mafah rushed 216 times for 1,115 yards (5.2 AVG) and eight touchdowns a season ago. It's the second straight year that Clemson will have to replace its starting tailback from the previous season after Mafah took over for the versatile Will Shipley after 2023. Clemson and LSU will meet in prime time at 7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 30. The game will be televised on ABC. Clemson football schedule 2025 Aug. 30: vs. LSU Sept. 6: vs. Troy Sept. 13: at Georgia Tech Sept. 20: vs. Syracuse Oct. 4: at North Carolina Oct. 11: at Boston College Oct. 18: vs. SMU Nov. 1: vs. Duke Nov. 8: vs. Florida State Nov. 14: at Louisville Nov. 22: vs. Furman Nov. 29: at South Carolina Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Florida football a candidate for first College Football Playoff berth in 2025
Florida football a candidate for first College Football Playoff berth in 2025 Florida football is earning national attention as one of the top programs poised to make their first College Football Playoff appearance in 2025, according to CBS Sports' Carter Bahns. Following the CFP's expansion to a 12-team format in 2024, the door has opened wider than ever for rising programs to break through. The Gators' late-season surge–powered by DJ Lagway's rapid development, a veteran offensive line and improved defense–helped shift the narrative surrounding Billy Napier's tenure as Florida's skipper. Entering his fourth season with the Orange and Blue, Napier now leads one of the SEC's most intriguing rosters heading into the fall. With the CFP now allowing multiple teams from power conferences like the SEC, Florida doesn't need to win the league to earn a postseason spot. Instead, a top-three finish in the conference could be enough to secure a long-awaited playoff berth. Here is everything Bahns wrote about the Florida Gators and why they could have a real shot at the playoffs next season. Everything CBS Sports said about the Gators "Florida sure looked like it turned a corner last November. Consecutive wins over ranked opponents, a four-game winning streak to close the year and a freshman-year breakout from DJ Lagway could not have come at a more opportune time for Billy Napier," Bahns notes. "If the last month of 2024 was a harbinger of success to come, the Gators coach could go from the hot seat to the playoff in just over a calendar year. It does not take much imagination to envision a breakthrough season, especially since Lagway has a talented receiving corps and one of college football's strongest offensive lines at his side." CBS Sports' teams poised to make 2025 playoff debut appearance Miami Hurricanes Illinois Fighting Illini South Carolina Gamecocks Florida Gators Louisville Cardinals Texas A&M Aggies Ole Miss Rebels Auburn Tigers Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Urban Meyer unable to properly count Georgia's number of home games
Urban Meyer unable to properly count Georgia's number of home games Former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer discussed the Georgia Bulldogs' prospects for the 2025 college football season on "The Triple Option" podcast. The podcast features Meyer, former Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram and fellow FOX college football analyst Rob Stone. Meyer emphasized the importance of scheduling and how it impacts a team's success. "I am sitting here looking at Georgia's schedule. They are playing nine, this is an SEC schedule man, nine games at home," said Meyer. There's no doubt that Georgia scheduled a soft nonconference schedule in 2025. "Marshall, Austin Peay and Charlotte and they've got nine. Count them. Nine home games," added Meyer. "Come on Kirby (Smart) what in the world was that." Meyer fails to mention that Georgia plays Georgia Tech, as usual, in nonconference play. Well, we counted. We have a copy of Georgia's schedule and can clearly see that the Bulldogs play seven home games, which is very common in this era of college. Georgia does play a pair of neutral site games against Florida and Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs only have three true road games, so that's what Meyer is trying to get at. It is a little embarrassing that Meyer, who obviously coached at Florida, did not realize that the Georgia-Florida game is played a neutral site on UGA's schedule. We also can see Ohio State's schedule from their 2024 national championship season, where the Buckeyes did actually play nine home games (includes one home game in the College Football Playoff). The Buckeyes played a three-game regular season nonconference slate of Akron, Western Kentucky and Marshall and had eight regular season games at home, which is a lot. As for Florida, the Gators had a challenging 2024 schedule that still featured seven home games. The Gators have six home games in 2025 while Ohio State had seven home games in 2025, which is the same amount as Georgia. Despite a weak nonconference schedule, Georgia's schedule is by no means easy. The Bulldogs play Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss at home and have road games against Auburn and Tennessee. Neutral site contests against Florida and Georgia Tech present significant challenges as well. Georgia football's 2025 schedule Follow UGAWire on Instagram!
