College Football Playoff changes format for 2025 after flex by SEC and Big Ten

The College Football Playoff management committee agreed Thursday to the change everyone has expected for months Not the expansion to or teams Or the implementation of four automatic bids for both the Big Ten and SEC Or the calendar shift to accommodate the extra games Or the diminishment of the selection committee s role All those changes are coming in the season The switch approved Thursday is strictly for the upcoming fall The playoff participants will be seeded based on their final ranking by the selection committee No longer will the top four seeds and opening-round byes be guaranteed to the highest-ranked conference champions Instead the seeds will follow the rankings regardless of a company s finish within its conference In other words the runners-up in the Big Ten and SEC could receive the No and seeds and have a bye into the quarterfinals Heck one of those conferences could claim three of the top four seeds After evaluating the first year of the -team Playoff the CFP Management Committee felt it was in the best interest of the tournament to make this adjustment CFP executive director Rich Clark explained in a report issued Thursday morning 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 change is a power play by the Big Ten and SEC that comes at the expense of the ACC and Big champions and the top-ranked unit from the Group of Five After all Boise State and Arizona State were the No and seeds last season respectively However the opening-round bye comes with a cost with two costs truly It eliminates the possibility of playing at home with all the commercial and psychological benefits that a playoff championship brings to the campus neighborhood It creates a competitive disadvantage because of the long layoff That piece was apparent in Oregon s blowout loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl The Buckeyes won an opening-round championship at home over Tennessee then had days to rest and prepare for the quarterfinals The Ducks took the field after a three-and-a-half week layoff and the rust revealed Related Articles Arizona State AD Graham Rossini Progress in Year but major challenges remain USC-Notre Dame series in doubt as CFP selection process causes concern Big football Brigham Young Texas Tech lead our post-spring power rankings Pac- Mountain West begin mediation over legal beef Big baseball tournament headed west starting in as conference deepens roots in new footprint The revision disclosed Thursday does not guarantee the ACC and Big champions or the top-ranked squad from the Group of Five would receive a home competition in the opening round if they are outside the top four of the committee s final rankings Home games are allocated to the No and seeds But a home competition becomes a possibility and the long layoff would be eliminated And there s a second piece to consider the cash Under the current model the CFP awards million to each quarterfinalist with million based on participation in the event and million from appearing in the quarterfinal According to Yahoo the four highest-ranked conference champions will continue to receive the full million even if they are not among the top four seeds That was it seems the point of compromise with the Big Ten and SEC The other conferences agreed to base the seeds on the rankings while the Big Ten and SEC agreed to let the highest-ranked conference champions keep the million even if they aren t in the quarterfinals The sweetest spot in the system for next season is clear Win your conference and collect one of the No -to- seeds a combination that would feature a home encounter avoid the long layoff and provide the extra million Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline