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Last season, we saw the first ever edition of the 12-team College Football Playoff. There were aspects that went well and were enjoyed by fans, and then there were also some things that need improvement. One part of the format that people didn't like was the seeding. The highest-ranked conference champions received byes, and that led to teams being seeded ahead of teams that were ranked higher. It didn't make a ton of sense, and that will change in the 2025 season.
“The 12-team College Football Playoff will move to a straight seeding model this fall, rewarding the selection committee’s top four teams with the top four seeds and a first-round bye, multiple sources told ESPN,” a report from Heather Dinich states.
Dinich appeared on the Pat McAfee Show to discuss the decision, and the financial components of the College Football Playoff remaining the same is a big reason why these changes were able to be made.
“They are not announcing any other changes today for 2026 and beyond,” Dinich said. The other reason that they came to this agreement, remember, it had to be unanimous in order to implement the change for this fall. And one of the reasons they were able to get to the unanimity is because of the financial component that was added to it. Sources told me that if you're one of the four highest-ranked conference champions, even though you're not going to get one of those top-four seeds or first-round byess necessarily, you're still going to get the $8 million that Boise State and Arizona state got. $4 million for getting into the playoff and then $4 million for advancing to the next round for a total of 8 million, so to be able to keep them financially whole was part of this deal.”
This fix will go a long way in creating better matchups in the first round of the College Football Playoff and beyond. For example, last year, teams like Arizona State and Boise State received top-four seeds in the CFP despite being ranked 9th and 12th. Both teams received byes to the quarterfinal round, and it set up a couple of lopsided matchups in the first round of the playoff.
With the new seeding model, Boise State and Arizona State would not have received those byes in last year's College Football Playoff. The Sun Devils would've received the 11-seed, which is higher than their ranking, but they won their conference. That conference title still give teams an auto-berth, which is why #15 Clemson was the 12-seed in last year's playoff.
Texas and Penn State were both ranked in the top-four last year, but because of the format, they did not receive byes into the next round of the CFP. With the new rules that will be in effect during the 2025 season, the Longhorns and Nittany Lions would've gotten the bye.
This change is something that has been expected and it is needed. A lot of fans have problems with the auto-bids for power conference champs as well, but the way that the seeding worked with the byes was a clear flaw. The auto-bid rule could change at some point down the line, but the College Football Playoff wants to reward conference championships. That one is a discussion for another day.
This new seeding model will be good for the sport. It should help even out the playing field for the first round of the College Football Playoff and beyond, and that is something that everybody wants to see.
