College Football Playoff Adjusts Seeding Model

Nathan Breisinger (Pittsburgh Sports Now) – The College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams for the first time in 2024, and while changes are coming again further down the road, the powers that be have made an adjustment to the present model for the upcoming season.

In the first year of a 12-team format, the four-highest ranked conference champions received the top four seeds and first-round byes. That included Boise State, who finished as the No. 9 team in the College Football Playoff Rankings and earned the No. 3 seed, along with Arizona State — No. 12 overall at the end of the season — seeded at the No. 4 slot.

On Thursday, CFP executives unanimously approved of a new straight seeding format for the 2025-26 season, therefore granting the top four overall teams with the highest seeds and byes in the first round.

“Today’s decision was done in the best interest of the sport. It may not always benefit the ACC but it was the right decision and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said.

The five-highest ranked conference champions will still earn an automatic bid into the tournament. The rule additionally benefits Notre Dame, a program that was unable to secure a first-round bye due to its independent status. During the 2024 playoff, each of the top four teams — Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State — lost their initial games in the quarterfinals.

Changes will not impact the the financial distribution with $8 million rewarded to the four highest-ranked conference champions — $4 million for reaching the playoff and $4 million for the quarterfinals.

This move comes amid future talks of changing the CFP after its initial two-year model. The SEC and Big 10 are pushing for a 16-team format that would follow a 4-4-2-2-1 structure. This would benefit the SEC and Big 10, providing four automatic qualifiers with the ACC and Big 12 receiving two apiece and one for the Group of Six, leaving three at-large bids available.

This story initially appeared on our partner site Pittsburgh Sports Now.