The first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff hasn’t even begun its second round yet and changes are already being considered.
According to the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, conference commissioners will have “in-depth discussions” regarding the 12-team format’s structure, particularly when it comes to its seeding. As currently constructed, the top-four seeds in the College Football Playoff — each of which receives a first-round bye — are required to be conference champions, creating a conundrum in which some of the format’s lesser teams can benefit from one of its biggest advantages.
Look no further than this year, in which Boise State and Arizona State received first-round byes, despite being ranked ninth and 12th, respectively, in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Under the current format, none of the teams placing third through eighth in the final rankings — including three Big Ten teams, two SEC teams and Notre Dame — were eligible for a first-round bye as non-conference champions.
Meanwhile, the only other team that was eligible for a bye in this year’s field was Clemson, which landed at No. 16 in the final rankings but made the playoff after winning the ACC Championship Game, securing the conference’s automatic bid.
There will be “in-depth discussions” about not guaranteeing conference champs the top 4 @CFBPlayoff seeds in 2025, sources said. Top 5 conference champs still would get in playoff but rankings would determine seeds, sources said. This would require unanimous approval by all stake…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 30, 2024
While there’s certainly something to be said for winning your conference, one could argue the current system already rewards doing so via automatic bids. Forcing all four of the first-round byes to conference champions, however, doesn’t just potentially create less interesting matchups in the latter rounds, but can also foster a format less reflective of the sport’s actual landscape in a given season.
According to McMurphy, college football’s conference commissioners will discuss making tweaks to the 12-team format when they meet in the coming weeks. The longtime college football insider noted that there’s “momentum” to implement the changes for the 2025 college football season, with the most likely solution being the five highest-ranked conference champions receiving automatic bids, with byes being awarded to the four highest-ranked teams regardless of whether they’ve won a conference title or not.
Any potential changes must be unanimously approved by all involved stakeholders, including the conference commissioners, the College Football Playoff management committee and ESPN.
“We should be open to getting (the seeding) right regardless of what that means,” a commissioner told McMurphy. “But protecting conference champions and securing a spot in the playoff is a must.”
McMurphy also pointed out that the 2025 season marks the final year of the College Football Playoff’s current 12-team format’s contract. That means that even more changes could be coming in the not-too-distant future, including not only adjustments to the selection process, but the size of the field itself.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.