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New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Should the Notre Dame-USC rivalry continue? Marcus Freeman makes his stance clear
Marcus Freeman wants the Notre Dame-USC rivalry extended. With the future of one of college football's most glamorous rivalries in doubt, Notre Dame's head coach weighed in on a series that began with Knute Rockne but might end with Lincoln Riley. This season's meeting in South Bend — the 93rd game in a series the Irish lead 50-37-5 — could be the final one in the series unless both schools agree on an extension. Advertisement 'Where I feel about USC is very clear, would love to play 'em every single year,' Freeman said Thursday. 'Don't matter when we play 'em, I would love to continue the rivalry as long as I'm the head coach here. I think rivalries are great for college football. I think they're great for sports.' Sports Illustrated reported earlier this month that the schools see the future of the series differently, with Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua pushing for an extension to the annual series between programs that have combined for 22 national championships, 15 Heisman Trophy winners and the most NFL Draft picks. USC reportedly doesn't want to enter into a long-term agreement with Notre Dame after its difficult debut season in the Big Ten amid uncertainty about the future of the College Football Playoff model. The Trojans finished 4-5 in the conference, tied for ninth in the league with Rutgers and Washington. Freeman looked back at the rivalries he has played in, including the Michigan-Ohio State series that rates among the sport's most-watched games annually. Before he was a starting linebacker for the Buckeyes, Freeman was an All-American at Wayne High school in Huber Heights, Ohio. 'I think back to high school when we played this team called the Centerville Elks where we were trying to go after this guy named A.J. Hawk because it was a rivalry,' Freeman said. 'Kirk Herbstreit went there. It was a huge rival. 'You got the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry — those contests are extremely important I think for all sports. And USC-Notre Dame is one that fits right into that category. I think it's great for college football and it's important for us. I'm very clear on wanting to continue that.' The Notre Dame-USC series has been played annually since it began in 1926, with exceptions for the COVID-19 pandemic (Notre Dame's 2020 trip to Los Angeles was canceled) and World War II (the teams didn't play for three seasons from 1943-45). Beyond that, the series has endured conference realignment and program upheaval, producing iconic moments because of it. Advertisement While it's less clear who needs the rivalry more in the expanding College Football Playoff era, it's obvious to Freeman that Notre Dame is reliant on the USC series for schedule-building purposes. As the sport moves more toward seasons being defined by making the CFP or missing it, Notre Dame's schedule becomes even more paramount, especially as the SEC ponders a move to a nine-game schedule and perhaps even a scheduling agreement with the Big Ten. If that agreement happens — several SEC coaches, including Brian Kelly, talked it up this week — it could put the Notre Dame-USC series in more peril while also leaving Notre Dame with some difficulty in scheduling other SEC or Big Ten schools due to a lack of availability. 'As far as scheduling, we know that we have to continue to have a challenging schedule to stay independent, and I know Pete Bevacqua and (deputy athletic director) Ron Powlus do a great job of making sure that we stay competitive enough but also not making decisions that are detrimental to our football program, too,' Freeman said. 'So we have to continue to have a competitive schedule that we're not going into the season and say, 'Hey, if you lose one game, you're out of the Playoff.' That's not the same as the SEC and the Big Ten and really any of the other conferences. 'We've got to continuously have a challenging schedule that is truly coast-to-coast.'
New York Post
22-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Major shakeup emerges for 2025-26 College Football Playoff
Another wrinkle has developed for the second year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. CFP executives unanimously voted Thursday on a pivot to a straight seeding format for the upcoming year, according to Yahoo Sports. Teams will now be seeded 1-12 based on the selection committee's rankings rather than reserving the top four seeds for the conference champions. Advertisement In the straight seeding format, the top four seeds will get byes into the quarterfinals. The CFP will pivot to a straight seeding format for the upcoming season. Getty Images The vote went through the management committee, the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director, Pete Bevacqua, after an unbalanced bracket emerged last season under last year's format. Advertisement For instance, Boise State was the No. 3 seed while 11-win Texas and Penn State endured tougher, competitive schedules. They went on to win the Mountain West championship and benefited from the highest-ranked conference champion rule. The four teams that received first-round byes last season were Oregon, Boise State, Arizona and Georgia. None of them moved on past the quarterfinals. Advertisement Oregon, the Big Ten champion, drew eighth-seeded Ohio State for their Rose Bowl matchup and were left in the dust, losing 41-21 against the eventual national champions. Ducks coach Dan Lanning didn't blame the seeding format. Safety Seyi Oladipo of the Boise State Broncos celebrates a sack during the first half of the Mountain West Championship against the UNLV Rebels at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. Getty Images 'We had an opportunity,' Lanning said. 'We didn't take advantage of the opportunity. I am not going to make excuses for our opportunity.' Advertisement The vote also kept in place a hefty payout for the top-four conference champs. The four highest-ranked conference champions still are expected to earn $8 million — $4 million each for winning the conference and making it to the quarterfinal — even if they do not rank within the top four seeds, at least for this year. But starting in 2026, the playoff will include a new revenue-distribution system with conferences earning a base amount rather than performance-based payments. More changes — including expanding the field — are expected to be discussed, as the 12-team expanded playoff model's contract ends after the 2025 season.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
College Football Playoff seeding model is changing to reward top teams in rankings
The College Football Playoff will convert beginning this coming year to a straight-seeding model that ranks all 12 teams in order of the final playoff rankings of the regular season, the group's management committee announced on Thursday. The new policy will no longer include an opening-round bye for the four highest-ranked conference champions, though the five top conference winners will still receive automatic playoff bids. Advertisement Instead, the four highest-ranked teams regardless of conference championships won will receive that bye into the quarterfinals. In the case that one or more of the five top-ranked conference champions rank outside the top 12 of the final playoff rankings, that team or those teams will move into the top 12 and displace any non-conference winners. Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins celebrates with teammates after a scoring a touchdown against Notre Dame during the second quarter in the College Football Playoff championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The updated seeding policy comes amid a continued push from several Power Four leagues to widen the tournament field to 14 or 16 teams, with multiple automatic bids given to the best teams in the SEC and the Big Ten. The management committee is composed of the 10 Bowl Subdivision conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua. Advertisement '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 playoff executive director Rich Clark. '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.' The debut of the 12-team playoff saw Boise State from the Group of Five land one of the four byes, displacing ACC winner Clemson. Eventual national champion Ohio State earned an at-large bid, as did runner-up Notre Dame as an FBS independent. They were seeded eighth and seventh despite being ranked sixth and fifth, respectively, by the committee. All other policies will remain the same from last season, the playoff said. That includes opening-round games between teams ranked between No. 5 and No. 12 being played at the home venue of the higher-ranked team. This year's quarterfinals are to be held in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The semifinals will be in the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl and the championship game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 19, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. How the College Football Playoff seeding would have looked Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State were the top four seeds and received first-round byes in the 2024 playoff field due to their ranking as the four-highest champions. However, both the Broncos and Sun Devils were No. 9 and No. 12, respectively, in the final rankings. Texas and Penn State played in the first round despite being finishing No. 3 and No. 4. That would have been different under the new system. Advertisement Here's how the playoff was seeded: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State Second round No. 1 Oregon vs. Ohio State-Tennessee winner No. 2 Georgia vs. Notre Dame-Indiana winner No. 3 Boise State vs. Penn State-SMU winner No. 4 Arizona State vs. Texas-Clemson winner Here's how the playoff would have looked have looked with straight-seeding model: 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 Second round No. 1 Oregon vs. Indiana-Boise State winner Advertisement No. 2 Georgia vs. Tennessee-SMU winner No. 3 Texas vs. Ohio State-Arizona State winner No. 4 Penn State vs. Notre Dame-Clemson winner This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College Football Playoff seeding change puts teams in ranking order
NBC Sports
22-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
College football adopts straight seeding for 2025 playoffs
A day after the NFL abandoned the possibility of taking away guaranteed high seeds for division winners, college football took away guaranteed high seeds for conference champions. Via multiple reports, the College Football Playoff will use a straight seeding model in 2025. The decision was the result of a unanimous vote taken during the Thursday conference call by the members of the CFP management committee: the 10 FBS Commissioners and Notre Dame A.D. Pete Bevacqua. In 2024, the top four seeds went to conference champions. Now, the selection committee's top four teams will receive the top four seeds, which comes with a first-round bye. Of course, a first-round bye was the kiss of death in 2024. All four teams with byes lost their opening games. It's possible, if not likely, that the extended down time was a disadvantage against four teams that won first-round home games. The quarterfinal round, featuring the top four seeds, happens as four of the traditional neutral-site bowl games. The eventual winner receive a beautiful, but not unbreakable, golden trophy.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
College Football Playoff changes system to reward top seeds
The College Football Playoff system is adapting. After a year that saw first-round and quarterfinal games turn into mismatches because weaker conference champions were awarded byes, the CFP will award the four top seeds a pass into the next round. This makes sense because Boise State, which was seeded ninth, and Arizona State, which was 12th, were given byes in the system after the 2024 season. Every first-round game saw the higher seed win by double digits. Advertisement Then, when Boise State and Arizona State entered the mix in the quarterfinal round, they were defeated by Penn State and Texas, respectively. The Sun Devils' eight-point, double overtime loss to Texas was the lone game in the first two rounds that finished with a difference of fewer than double-digit points. The five highest-ranked conference champions are still guaranteed bids. In the case of Notre Dame, an independent that plays a schedule dotted with ACC teams, if the Fighting Irish are in the top four they would be eligible for a bye. The audible to change the setup of the system came when the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua reached a unanimous decision. This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: College Football Playoff moves to straight seeding for 2025 season
