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The Herald Scotland
28-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
College Football Playoff seeding change is SEC, Big Ten power move
Until they couldn't -- until their false bravado of public statements wilted in the face of reality. So it should come as no surprise that the College Football Playoff announced Thursday that this season's 12-team bracket would be a straight-seeded format. No more highest-ranked conference champions earning first-round byes, a format that benefits the ACC, Big 12 and Group of Five. No more Mr. Nice Guy from the Big Ten and SEC. "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 CFP. Translation: the SEC and Big Ten said take it or leave it, and the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision conferences fell in line. More damning: this is just the beginning of the Big Ten and SEC power play -- and there's nothing anyone can do about it. If you don't believe it, consider this: any change to the final year of first CFP contract needed a unanimous vote. The next CFP contract beginning with the 2026 season, which will effectively be controlled exclusively by the Big Ten and SEC, doesn't. TOP 10 RANKING: Identifying the best SEC college football rivalries BAD IDEA: College football hiring CEO going to be another typical failure So if the minority didn't agree with the majority on the straight seeding for 2025 (which they could have), they may as well have signed their own pink slips for the next CFP contract. The Big Ten and SEC control everything - format and financials - beginning in 2026. A new 16-team format will likely exceed $1.2 billion in revenue annually, and no one wants to be left out. So while Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips have accomplished some heavy lifting to save their respective conferences, while the Group of Five conferences have done all they can to hang on for revenue scraps, the Big Ten and SEC have doubled down and flexed. It's their postseason world, the rest of college football is just surviving in it. And the Big Ten and SEC haven't even begun to take big swings yet. Soon enough - more than likely shortly after the SEC spring meetings next week in Destin, Florida - the College Football Playoff will announce the format for 2026 and beyond. It wasn't long ago that the Big 12 and ACC were publicly questioning a move to 16 teams, and against the idea that the Big Ten and SEC would be gifted four automatic qualifiers each -- or half of the field. It wasn't long ago that Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey floated the idea that maybe, with the new contract, they wouldn't use a committee to pick the field -- or they would, but it would be tweaked. Shoot, maybe they'd bring back computer polls. Understand this: the Big Ten and SEC aren't floating ideas publicly (or leaking them) to gain an understanding of how far things can be pushed. They're telling you what they're doing. And then they're going to do it. When the SEC meets next week in Destin, the league could finally and officially approve a nine-game conference schedule. This will put the Big Ten (which already plays a nine-game conference schedule) and SEC on an even playing field, and eliminate the final point of structural friction between the conferences. It will also send a shot across the bow to everyone else in college football. The two super conferences are now in lockstep in format and focus, and they're going after big financial paydays. If you don't like how we structure the postseason beginning in 2026, we'll take our ball and have our own playoff. Better yet, we'll schedule each other in non-conference games, and effectively shut out the rest of the sport. There's a reason the Big Ten and SEC have been talking about an expanded non-conference schedule for nearly a year. Network television (and eventually streaming) wants more Big Ten vs. SEC. So don't be shocked when the new 2026 CFP format includes an expanded championship week prior to the beginning of the playoff. That week - which long has been a standalone week for conference championship games - would include a championship game and three play-in games from the Big Ten and SEC. The teams playing in the two championship games, and the winners of the play-in games, would advance to the CFP. That's four automatic qualifiers each from the Big Ten and SEC. More problematic for the ACC and Big 12 (and Group of Five): the Big Ten and SEC play-in games will suck the oxygen (not to mention, television money) from that final regular-season weekend. More games, more television inventory, more revenue for the elite 34 schools of college football. The ACC and Big 12 would get two automatic qualifiers each beginning in 2026, Notre Dame would be guaranteed a spot if it's ranked in the top 16, and the highest-ranked Group of Five conference champion would also earn a spot. That leaves three at-large spots in a 16-team field. Three spots for the Big Ten and SEC to more than likely share, or earn a majority -- based, more than anything, on strength of schedule. It's all there, plain to see. The Big Ten and SEC are telling us how they're going to take over college football, and it's time we start listening. This is just the beginning, everyone. And there's nothing anyone can do about it. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
Forbes
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
College Football Playoff Unveils New Straight Seeding Model For 2025
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 31: A general view of the CFP logo before the college football Playoff ... More Semifinal game at the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes on December 31, 2022 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) In its second season of existence, the 12-team College Football Playoff will feature an updated change to its postseason format. According to CFP officials this past Thursday, the event will conduct a straight seeding model for the upcoming fall season. This regulation will now reward college football's top four regular-season teams with a first-round bye instead of it going to the four highest-ranked conference title winners. According to ESPN, 10 FBS commissioners alongside Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua came to the unanimous decision on a Thursday afternoon phone call. With the recent format change, a non-conference team like Notre Dame is now eligible to receive a first-round bye if they finish inside the CFP's top-four ranking. However, the five highest-ranked conference title winners will still have a guaranteed slot in the 12-team postseason event. '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,' Rich Clark, executive director of the CFP, said in a statement. '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 season.' If this year's format was applied a season ago, the Oregon Ducks, Georgia Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns and Penn State Nittany Lions would've been the event's top four seeds. Instead, Penn State and Texas were pushed out by conference title winners in the Arizona State Sun Devils (winners of the Big-12) and Boise State Broncos (Winners of the Mountain West). Under the new format, Arizona State would have been gifted a road matchup versus the Ohio State Buckeyes in a sixth versus eleventh seeded first round matchup. Boisie State would've drawn a road tilt with the Indiana Hoosiers in a captivating eighth versus ninth seeded matchup. 2024 CFP Straight Seeding First Round Matchups No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Clemson No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Arizona State No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 10 SMU No. 8 Indiana vs. No. 9 Boise State Despite the recent change, CFP's delegation will continue to agree to the $8 million financial payout for the four-highest conference champions. Programs who secure a playoff berth and/or make the quarterfinals will receive $4 million compensation. "That was the commissioners' way of, at least for this year, holding to the commitment that they have made financially to those teams, those conference champions in particular, that would have been paid those amounts under the former system that we used last year," Clark told ESPN.
CNN
23-05-2025
- Sport
- CNN
College Football Playoff shifts to straight seeding model, no automatic byes for top league champs
The College Football Playoff will go to a more straightforward way of filling the bracket next season, announcing Thursday that it will place teams strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions. Ten conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director came to the unanimous agreement they needed to shift the model that drew complaints last season. The new format will no longer guarantee an opening bye week for the four highest-ranked league champions, reserving that benefit for the four top-ranked teams in general. The change was widely expected after last season's jumbled bracket gave byes to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State, even though they were ranked 12th and ninth, respectively, by the playoff selection committee. That system made the rankings and the seedings in the tournament two different things and resulted in some matchups — for instance, the quarterfinal between top-ranked Oregon and eventual national champion Ohio State — that came earlier than they otherwise might have. '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 CFP. The five highest-ranked conference champions will still be guaranteed spots in the playoff, meaning it's possible there could be a repeat of a different sort of shuffling seen last season when CFP No. 16 Clemson was seeded 12th in the bracket after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference. That ended up costing 11th-ranked Alabama a spot in the playoff. Under the new arrangement, the four top-ranked conference champions will still receive $8 million for their leagues – representing the $4 million they earn for making the playoff and $4 million for advancing to the quarterfinals. 'That was the commissioners' way of – at least for this year – holding to the commitment that they have made financially to those teams, those conference champions in particular, that would have been paid those amounts under the former system that we used last year,' Clark told ESPN. Southeastern Conference (SEC) commissioner Greg Sankey was among those who pushed for the change in the upcoming second year of the 12-team playoff, though he remained cautious about it being approved because of the unanimous vote needed. Smaller conferences had a chance to use the seeding issue as leverage for the next set of negotiations, which will come after this season and could include an expansion to 14 teams and more guaranteed bids for certain leagues. The SEC and Big Ten will have the biggest say in those decisions. As it stands, this will be the third different playoff system for college football in the span of three years. For the 10 years leading into last season's inaugural 12-team playoff, the CFP was a four-team affair. The seeding change was first reported by ESPN, which last year signed a six-year, $7.8 billion deal to televise the expanded playoff. The playoff for the upcoming season begins December 19 on the campuses of the teams ranked 5-8. All games beginning with the quarterfinals will be at neutral sites, ending with the title game on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami. A look at possible first-round matchups had straight seeding been in play last season (note: with result of actual matchup in parenthesis): · No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Notre Dame. The Tigers still would have gotten in despite being ranked 16th. Notre Dame, a team without a conference, could benefit from this new arrangement because it is now eligible for a bye. (No. 5 Texas 38, No. 12 Clemson 24). · No. 11 Arizona State at No. 6 Ohio State. The Sun Devils face a juggernaut instead of receiving a first-round bye. (No. 6 Penn State 38, No. 11 SMU 10). · No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Tennessee. Yes, Alabama, 11th in CFP's final ranking, still would've been the odd man out because of Clemson. (No. 7 Notre Dame 27, No. 10 Indiana 17). · No. 9 Boise State at No. 8 Indiana. It could've been Ashton Jeanty vs. the Hoosiers in a matchup of two of the season's best stories. (No. 8 Ohio State 42, No. 9 Tennessee 17). Byes: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State. Could Texas or Penn State have gone further without having to play that extra game?
CNN
23-05-2025
- Sport
- CNN
College Football Playoff shifts to straight seeding model, no automatic byes for top league champs
The College Football Playoff will go to a more straightforward way of filling the bracket next season, announcing Thursday that it will place teams strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions. Ten conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director came to the unanimous agreement they needed to shift the model that drew complaints last season. The new format will no longer guarantee an opening bye week for the four highest-ranked league champions, reserving that benefit for the four top-ranked teams in general. The change was widely expected after last season's jumbled bracket gave byes to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State, even though they were ranked 12th and ninth, respectively, by the playoff selection committee. That system made the rankings and the seedings in the tournament two different things and resulted in some matchups — for instance, the quarterfinal between top-ranked Oregon and eventual national champion Ohio State — that came earlier than they otherwise might have. '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 CFP. The five highest-ranked conference champions will still be guaranteed spots in the playoff, meaning it's possible there could be a repeat of a different sort of shuffling seen last season when CFP No. 16 Clemson was seeded 12th in the bracket after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference. That ended up costing 11th-ranked Alabama a spot in the playoff. Under the new arrangement, the four top-ranked conference champions will still receive $8 million for their leagues – representing the $4 million they earn for making the playoff and $4 million for advancing to the quarterfinals. 'That was the commissioners' way of – at least for this year – holding to the commitment that they have made financially to those teams, those conference champions in particular, that would have been paid those amounts under the former system that we used last year,' Clark told ESPN. Southeastern Conference (SEC) commissioner Greg Sankey was among those who pushed for the change in the upcoming second year of the 12-team playoff, though he remained cautious about it being approved because of the unanimous vote needed. Smaller conferences had a chance to use the seeding issue as leverage for the next set of negotiations, which will come after this season and could include an expansion to 14 teams and more guaranteed bids for certain leagues. The SEC and Big Ten will have the biggest say in those decisions. As it stands, this will be the third different playoff system for college football in the span of three years. For the 10 years leading into last season's inaugural 12-team playoff, the CFP was a four-team affair. The seeding change was first reported by ESPN, which last year signed a six-year, $7.8 billion deal to televise the expanded playoff. The playoff for the upcoming season begins December 19 on the campuses of the teams ranked 5-8. All games beginning with the quarterfinals will be at neutral sites, ending with the title game on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami. A look at possible first-round matchups had straight seeding been in play last season (note: with result of actual matchup in parenthesis): · No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Notre Dame. The Tigers still would have gotten in despite being ranked 16th. Notre Dame, a team without a conference, could benefit from this new arrangement because it is now eligible for a bye. (No. 5 Texas 38, No. 12 Clemson 24). · No. 11 Arizona State at No. 6 Ohio State. The Sun Devils face a juggernaut instead of receiving a first-round bye. (No. 6 Penn State 38, No. 11 SMU 10). · No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Tennessee. Yes, Alabama, 11th in CFP's final ranking, still would've been the odd man out because of Clemson. (No. 7 Notre Dame 27, No. 10 Indiana 17). · No. 9 Boise State at No. 8 Indiana. It could've been Ashton Jeanty vs. the Hoosiers in a matchup of two of the season's best stories. (No. 8 Ohio State 42, No. 9 Tennessee 17). Byes: No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State. Could Texas or Penn State have gone further without having to play that extra game?
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
College Football Playoff changes seeding for upcoming season; what this means
The College Football Playoff (CFP) management committee agreed to change its seeding format for this season. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The new policy will no longer reserve byes for conference champions and instead have the seeds match the committee's rankings, according to a CFP spokesperson. Advertisement The 10 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director voted unanimously on Thursday. TRENDING STORIES: The new changes will guarantee the five highest-ranked conference champions a place in the playoffs. It will not include a 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.' Advertisement The Associated Press reports that the change was widely expected after byes were given to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State. The playoff selection committee ranked them 12th and ninth. The 2025 CFP begins Dec. 19 on the campuses of the teams ranked 5-8. All quarterfinal and semifinal games will be at neutral sites, ending with the title game on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami. Ohio State won the 2024 College Football Playoff, beating Notre Dame, 34-23, on Jan. 20. The Associated Press contributed to this report. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
