The College Football Playoff will convert beginning this coming year to a straight-seeding model that ranks all 12 teams in order of the final playoff rankings of the regular season, the group’s management committee announced on Thursday.
The new policy will no longer include an opening-round bye for the four highest-ranked conference champions, though the five top conference winners will still receive automatic playoff bids.
Instead, the four highest-ranked teams regardless of conference championships won will receive that bye into the quarterfinals. In the case that one or more of the five top-ranked conference champions rank outside the top 12 of the final playoff rankings, that team or those teams will move into the top 12 and displace any non-conference winners.
The updated seeding policy comes amid a continued push from several Power Four leagues to widen the tournament field to 14 or 16 teams, with multiple automatic bids given to the best teams in the SEC and the Big Ten.
The management committee is composed of the 10 Bowl Subdivision conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua.
“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 playoff executive director Rich Clark. “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 debut of the 12-team playoff saw Boise State from the Group of Five land one of the four byes, displacing ACC winner Clemson. Eventual national champion Ohio State earned an at-large bid, as did runner-up Notre Dame as an FBS independent. They were seeded eighth and seventh despite being ranked sixth and fifth, respectively, by the committee.
All other policies will remain the same from last season, the playoff said. That includes opening-round games between teams ranked between No. 5 and No. 12 being played at the home venue of the higher-ranked team. This year’s quarterfinals are to be held in the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The semifinals will be in the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl and the championship game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 19, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
How the College Football Playoff seeding would have looked
Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State were the top four seeds and received first-round byes in the 2024 playoff field due to their ranking as the four-highest champions. However, the Broncos and Sun Devils were No. 9 and No. 12, respectively, in the final rankings. Texas and Penn State played in the first round despite being finishing No. 3 and No. 4. That would have been different under the new system.
Here’s how the playoff was seeded:
No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas
No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State
No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame
No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State
Second round
No. 1 Oregon vs. Ohio State-Tennessee winner
No. 2 Georgia vs. Notre Dame-Indiana winner
No. 3 Boise State vs. Penn State-SMU winner
No. 4 Arizona State vs. Texas-Clemson winner
Here’s how the playoff would have looked have looked with straight-seeding model:
No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Notre Dame
No. 11 Arizona State at No. 6 Ohio State
No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Tennessee
No. 9 Boise State at No. 8 Indiana
Second round
No. 1 Oregon vs. Indiana-Boise State winner
No. 2 Georgia vs. Tennessee-SMU winner
No. 3 Texas vs. Ohio State-Arizona State winner
No. 4 Penn State vs. Notre Dame-Clemson winner
